Sasuke laid in the practice field, exhausted from his long morning tai-jutsu workout with Lee, musing about a hot soak in the baths when Naruto came clamoring through the field, his blue eyes burning with unknown anger.

Before he could even react, Naruto hauled Sasuke from his prone position and threw a vicious right hook at the Uchiha heir.

"Did you know?!"

Punch.

"Did you know about them?!"

Punch.

"How long have you known?!"

Punch.

Before Naruto could throw another punch in, Sasuke grabbed Naruto's wrist and twisted viciously. The pain didn't even register in Naruto's mind but reflexively he loosened his grip on Sasuke giving the Uchiha man ample room to finally launch an offensive of his own. A powerful roundhouse kick threw Naruto in the air knocking the wind from his lungs and a spinning kick on his sternum pounded him mercilessly into the ground.

Sasuke stood over Naruto as the blond ninja laid facedown on the hard dirt ground, knowing that his teammate sustained no major injuries. But the fact that the noisiest ninja of the village had not said a word since their brief spar was surprising to Sasuke. He had expected Naruto to have gotten up to continue their fight or at least ranted and raved at the top of his lungs. Seeing as how Naruto was doing neither worried Sasuke and he didn't like it and was slightly annoyed that he was worrying about the blond nuisance.

"I've known from the beginning." Sasuke's deep voice responded breaking the silence.

Naruto made no indication that he had heard Sasuke, the only sounds he made were the sounds of his movements as he rose slowly from his prone position and sat cross-legged to look up at the afternoon sky, bright blue and devoid of clouds. Sasuke gazed at the sitting man for a moment before collapsing beside him. Neither of them spoke and the field was quiet save for the sound of their heavy breathing.

When Naruto finally spoke his voice was raspy and heavy with emotion. "I've loved her for so long now."

"I know."

"But she never loved me."

"Yeah."

Naruto dropped his gaze from the sky to stare at the ground. He uncrossed his legs and brought them up and rested his arms on his knees. His head dropped to then rest on his forearms.

"Why him?"

"Why not?"

He chuckled slightly at Sasuke's dry, clipped responses. "Easy for you to say, you've probably waited all this time to get her off your back."

Sasuke shook his head. "No, not really. When you brought me back and she came to the hospital to see the both of us, seeing her there…I knew then that I loved her. And that I always have. All the tears she cried because of me…" His voice drifted off, unable to finish his sentence.

"We were never good enough for her, Naruto. We both have demons we have yet to face. How can we make her happy when we can never be happy ourselves?"

Naruto's head jerked up at Sasuke's question knowing instantly that his friend was right, as always. How many tears has Sakura had to shed for the both of them? As hard as Naruto tried to coax smiles and gave constant reassurance to Sakura, she nevertheless would still cry for them. It was as though Sakura was the outlet in which Naruto and Sasuke both channeled their suppressed emotions. All their fears, frustrations, and despairs came forth in the sea-green eyes of their companion and her sobs would be their own crying voices.

Even though Sasuke was right, it didn't make the pain in Naruto's chest any more bearable. After Sasuke's return, Sakura had seemed to lose all interest in the Uchiha survivor and Naruto had hoped she would then turn her eyes towards him and find love with the loyal friend that stayed with her. As the years passed and Sakura's relationships with men seemed to flit from one to another, Naruto had hoped she would turn around and see the friend who was always there by her side.

Kakashi's presence in Sakura's apartment solidified the months of speculation and suspicions he had harbored about the both of them. The lingering glances, accidental brushes, awkward excuses for their absences, and the small smile that she gave to Kakashi when they thought no one was watching. He had seen it all but didn't think twice about it. He had thought that after Neji, Sakura's heart would have taken longer to heal. And when it did, he would be the one who would vow never to shatter it. Apparently, Kakashi beat him to the punch and Naruto was pushed to the sidelines again.

"Still hurts though." he mumbled, raising his hands to tighten his forehead protector which had loosened during their spar. He ran a dirty hand through his blond hair, brushing away the dirt and loose grass that had been caught between the spiky strands.

Sasuke noisily blew out a breath. "Why else would they call it a crush if it was meant to feel good?"