She didn't fully hear his comment, something primal and screeching had filled her head and she had a temporary black out. When the white cloud cleared out of her mind and Sakura could see again she realized that she had Naruto cornered and was holding a kunai to his neck. Her knees quivered, but only once before she forced stillness into them. Sakura was using up vast quantities of restraint in order to keep her head cool and not do something drastic, like swiping the blade to the right and severing his pretty little blonde head. Her thoughts were scattered and childish as she looked at his expressionless face.

Kill him…

…No emotion on his face… something's not right…

…Can't kill him. Too obvious.

'Girlfriend kills boyfriend. Close friends of the couple claim the relationship was loveless.'

"They'd been going out for three months…she never even kissed him…" Ino'd say that…

Nosey pig…

Coherent thought was kind enough to gather up the fragments of thought and make some sense of them, but before a full and logical conclusion could be reached her focus slipped back to reality and she noticed the look Naruto was giving her. His eyes were playful and mischievous but those weren't what worried her. It was the cold, holier-than-thou sneer set on his face that made her blanch internally. That was Sasuke's trademark look (or at least had been when he was around) but no…it was far more intense than Sasuke's… more feral and far more intimidating. Sasuke's smirk paled in comparison… and realization hit her. Where Sasuke's arrogance was influenced by others and flaunted in degrees of calculated cruelty for the sake of his 'life goal' (and probably some humor) Naruto's was far more… natural. It wasn't a bragging smirk like Sasuke's because… Naruto didn't brag. When he screamed about becoming stronger than any Hokage before him, it wasn't bragging, (anybody who spoke to him for more than five seconds would realize that) he could actually accomplish his goal and it simply wasn't bragging if it was true.

It ain't bragging if you really done it.

Or intensely planned on it…

Pink. Squishy. Wet. Getting closer.

And then she realized what was going on. Naruto had tilted his head down and was currently running his tongue up the hilt of the kunai towards her pinky.

What the bloody fuck is he doing?

His tongue stopped before it touched her finger and he glanced up at her. Cobalt eyes locked on olive ones and smiled. His eyes were smiling at her, telling her everything about him; excitement, lust, arousal, danger, want, and something told her this wasn't a shiny new toy type of want but more under the category of him wanting to grab her, throw her against the floor, rip her clothes off and mount her.

Oh my. And just imagine how his hands would feel? The roughness would be very niiiiiiice…

She felt her cheeks heat up and cut herself off before she launched into a full scale fantasy about him taking her on the floor of her apartment. Sakura saw his lips lift the tiniest bit at the corners in another parody of Sasuke's smirk. All erotic thoughts immediately vacated her head. The ruby flush left her cheeks and her eyes narrowed in a silent challenge to him.

Don't. You. Dare.

The lift at the corners of his lips increased and he wrapped his lips around her pinky finger. There was no thought; she merely swiped the blade to the side, halfway through his neck. Before the gravity of what she had just done, or attempted to do, could hit her some words were purred into her ear.

"You know Sakura-chan…" As he spoke the being with the nearly severed head in front of her became a puff of smoke.

All the Gods and Devils damn him for that technique of his.

"I've always wondered if your hair was naturally pink." One arm slid around her and the fingers pressed lightly against her torso while the other hand grabbed her wrist and with a slight jerk forced her to drop her kunai. She didn't jerk away or make any attempt at getting away. Far too surprised she barely blinked and her breath was shallow. "I really am curious Sakura-chan, mind if I take a peek?" Naruto's voice was low and she felt the hairs on the back of her neck dance as he spoke. The fingers on her torso pushed in gently and he slowly trailed his hand down over her bellybutton.

I have to do something.

He paused when she stiffened and the chuckle that came from him gave Sakura a clue of exactly how close they were. Though…the only parts of Naruto's body touching her own was his hands.

Do Something!

His hand moved slowly downward and for a brief moment Sakura wondered if he was going to slide his hand down the waist band or continue down and pull her skirt up.

DON'T JUST STAND THERE I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!

The hand that was wrapped around her wrist didn't have a strong grip on her, nor did the one that was slowly making its way southward. She knew eight different ways to break his neck with her left elbow without even turning around, she knew thirty seven different ways to immobilize him in three moves or less, Hell she could punch him in the crotch so hard his voice would never return to its normal pitch. She could… she could… his hand was slipping lower getting veeeeery close to incident and all the while he was pushing in gently on her skin in a massaging way. He would…he was going to…unless she did something he'd…

DO SOMETHING!

"S-STOP!" Despite the slight stutter her voice came out strong and he listened to her. Naruto's hand left her and she almost sighed in relief, except that there was none. The gentleness was gone as he spun her around and slammed her into the wall. For a moment Sakura was certain she was daydreaming again but the hands pinning her shoulders to the wall were far too real.

"Stop? Stop!" He chuckled slightly. "Tell me Sakura-chan would you stop me if I were your precious Sasuke-kun?" But he cut her off before she could respond. It wasn't a verbal response; one minute it was Naruto pinning her to the wall the next it was a smirking Sasuke. "Better now Sakura?" It was his face, and it was his voice but that was not Sasuke.

Not Sasuke.

Then why was her pulse climbing into the thousands? Why did she feel herself aching for his touch beyond just him holding her in place?

Not Sasuke.

She became uncomfortable very suddenly and her body finally began taking requests from her brain again. Sakura squirmed and tried to twist away from him all the while looking at anything but him. His grip tightened almost to the point of pain, but she stopped squirming and settled for looking at the floor off to the left.

"What's the matter Sakura? I thought you always wanted Sasuke to touch you…like this…" To emphasize his point Naruto ran his hands from her shoulders to her stomach then back up again. Instead of pinning her however, he placed them against the wall on either side of her waist and leaned in so that their bodies were pressed together fully. "And if I remember… didn't you always want him to kiss your forehead?" He reached for her chin and tilted her head up then planted a soft kiss dead center on her head. "And didn't you always want him to say how much he loves you and how much he cares for you?" Naruto leaned towards her and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her.

No…not like this…Not Sasuke.

But communication from body to brain had been severed. Again. Naruto however did not kiss her but moved to the right so that their cheeks were touching. "As I have done multiple times." She swallowed hard but wouldn't allow herself to feel guilt, or shame, or regret for treating him as she did. Because she was stronger than that. He leaned back to look at her but once again her eyes were adverted. Naruto's hand once again forced her head up and held it in place until her olive green eyes finally met his. They stood like that for a moment which could've been anywhere from seconds to ten minutes before Sakura realized the face before her was moving closer.

"Naruto." Her voice surprised both of them. "This has to stop. Now." He released her entirely and took a step back.

"I completely agree." The henge was dropped and there stood Naruto with his arms crossed over his chest looking stern.

"You need to stop your verbal assaults on me Naruto. You're being unfair and cruel. That's not what boyfriends do." Her voice was strong and harsh with her conviction.

Naruto feels ashamed. Apologizes. Leaves. Calls me in two days. Apologizes again. Things go back to the way they've been. Just like before.

"You're right. I have been cruel and unfair." Inside Sakura was smirking at his predictability. Well until he threw a curve ball at her. "But you have absolutely no right to stand there and act like you're superior. You've been just as cruel and unfair." Put on defensive Sakura spoke.

"How dare you! I nev-"

"Do not stand there and lie to me Sakura-chan. I thought you held a higher opinion of me. I'm not stupid Sakura-chan. I've noticed your 'hints' at trying to change me to be like him. Telling me I'd look better in subtler colors like oh say black and blue? Or better yet, how about last month when you insisted I dye my hair black for a costume party and then insisted I re-dye it permanently? Or perhaps your 'brilliant' idea that I learn more fire jutsu's? Tell me Sakura-chan would you like me to continue or do you get the point?" She said nothing and didn't break eye contact.

I have no time for guilt or shame. I'm far stronger than that.

"This has to stop Sakura."

What no 'chan?

"I'm tired of your crap. Choose. Now. Who's it going to be? Me who's been honest with you since day one and hasn't played fucked up games with your emotions or that bastard deserter who's dead as far as we know?" He paused watching her for a reaction. There was none. Though being slightly dismayed at her blank expression he continued. "Who is it Sakura? The man standing right in front of you and who's been standing in front of you or the ghost of a memory who's turned his back on you for as long as he's known you?"

Her mouth opened in an attempt to say something but no words came out. Hurt flashed briefly through his eyes at her continued silence but it was gone soon enough.

"Very well." He turned and moved at a very controlled pace towards her door. "I'll see you around Sakura." She tried to stop him as he opened up the door but could only watch as he shut it quietly behind himself.

The soft tremors that had been running through her legs stopped and she fell to her knees. There was no weeping. She was stronger than that.

I made the right choice…

We were going nowhere…

And I was only hurting him…

I made the right choice.

Her eyes were stuck on the spot on the floor where Naruto had stood.

And I feel like a cold heartless bitch for doing so.

With a small self-loathing smile Sakura picked herself up and returned to the book she'd been reading prior to his arrival.

Business as usual I suppose.

Because she couldn't feel regret. Because she couldn't feel sorrow. And because she couldn't be bothered by petty emotions, because Haruno Sakura was far stronger than that.