Sakura slammed open Sasuke's door, knowing it was open.

She was pissed.

"SASUKE!" She screamed. "SASUKE! SHOW YOUR SORRY ASS RIGHT NOW OR ELSE I'LL—"

A sense of movement and the sound of creaking wood told her she was not alone, and silenced her into a readied stance.

"Sakura?" A quiet voice came from behind her.

Sasuke?

"You've…uh…you're better." He said, coughing behind his hand. Phew. That was close. Almost showed some emotion there.

"No shit, Sherlock! But you just decided to make me almost die again, right? Is that it? Huh! By setting up poor Naruto no less!" She threw her hands up in the air and let out an exasperated sigh, still fuming.

Naruto, He thought with clenched teeth, is so going to pay after this.

She stomped up to him, her eyes wide with fury.

"Sakura, what are you—"

"Don't give me that act of innocent, buster, you know what you did!"

"No, I don't, what—"

"STOP IT! DON'T LIE TO ME! THAT'S ALL YOU EVER DO!" She screamed, anger turning into frustration and confusion.

Sasuke gripped the wrists that were pounding in futile on his chest.

"Stop…" She whispered, burying her face in his shirt. "Just stop…don't leave me…"

Sasuke cradled her in his arms, inhaling the soft scent of her hair.

"Sasuke, it's just…it's…I don't know what to do anymore!" She cried, her small fists tightening around his shirt.

He kissed her cheek affectionately, and cleared his throat.

"I love you, Sakura."

She looked up too quickly, staring into his eyes.

"Wh-what?"

He watched her lips quiver, and kissed her.

"I found out what love is, Sakura. I figured it out."

Sakura brought a trembling finger to her lips, touching the spot where Sasuke's had been.

For a while, they just stood, staring at each other. It wasn't embarrassing. It wasn't intense.

It was the kind of stare that you find yourself in after you realize something that you've been trying to figure out, something that you knew—it was on the tip of your tongue, but you couldn't spit it out. The kind of stare that you want to stay in forever, knowing you've just discovered the most important thing there can be in that moment.

"What is it, Sasuke?" She whispered, her eyes glued to his, unable to pull away.

He took her face in his hands and wiped away her tears with the pad of this thumb and smiled, but just a little.

"It's you, Sakura. It's you."

-

Sakura spent the night.

They lay on the floor of his room, Sasuke's arm around her waist, Sakura's hand caressing his face.

Sasuke felt the urge to tell Sakura: all these times, the answer that he had been searching for had been staring him right in the face, but he saw right through it. The clues. Sakura was the one.

"I left my door opened so you could come." He murmured, enjoying the feeling of her light touch, her nails dragging softly along his skin. Openings for so much more.

She felt tears prick her eyes. She didn't know why.

"I waited for you every day."

She swallowed. His grip tightened.

"I watched your every move."

"I prayed for the day you came to me instead of me to you."

"I hate to see you cry."

"A part of me is dead inside."

"When I left—"

"—I fell apart—"

"—my world was destroyed."

"I cried myself to sleep."

"I love you, Sakura."

"Miruko…"

"A lucky man." He mumbled against her lips, letting a finger slide along the contours of her back. He felt her shudder, and increased the pressure.

All Sakura wanted now was to be held. Held by the man she loved.

Held by the man that loved her.

But how could she tell who loved her when she could not even decide who she loved?

"Oh, no…Miruko!"

-

He still tasted her salty tears, mixed with the biting taste of mint and the faintest taste of a sweet, tantalizingly delicious fruit.

I can't have lost her again. Sasuke thought to himself as he watched her run back home—again, out of reach.

"Here goes nothing."

Well, I have an announcement to make:

I have another story started!

Oh, guys. At least try and look enthusiastic xD.

R&Rs would be appreciated ).

AlternateEndings