LOVED YOU ONCE
By Starflower Sakura

DISCLAIMER: -insert a witty "I don't own Naruto and never will" disclaimer here-

To readers/reviewers: It seems that I'm really bad at keeping promises to myself when it comes to anime or anything else with cute guys… I promised that I wouldn't get into Naruto. I failed. I promised I wouldn't go into the Naruto fandom if I got into Naruto and apparently I'm failing that. This really, really, really sucks…

Summary: It isn't fair, damn it! In high school, Naruto would've done anything to get Sasuke to spare him a glance and when he was finally getting over him, he pops back into his life! Naruto refuses to have his heart broken twice by the same person but how can he resist?

Rating: M (R)
Warning(s): AU, shounen-ai, possible OOC-ness, first-time Naruto fic
Pairing(s): Sasuke x Naruto

Started: Sunday, March 12, 2006
Completed: Monday, April 03, 2006

Loved You Once
Chapter 1 – To Make A Bad Day Worse

"I really hate mornings," Uzumaki Naruto growled after slamming down on his alarm clock that flashed a digital 7:00 AM. Falling back onto his bed with a groan, and shielding his eyes from the glares of the morning sun with his arm, he mumbled, "But not as much as I hate the job I have to wake up to every damn morning. Five more minutes won't hurt."

He let his body relax and concentrated on the warmth of his bed. Unconsciously, he snuggled even deeper into his fluffy blankets and a content sigh left his lips. After a few more moments of perfect bliss, and his mind deciding that his five minutes is probably up or close to being up, he turned towards his clock and slowly opened one eye to check the time. 7:20 was displayed innocently on his clock.

"Holy shit! I'm going to be late!"

Jumping out of bed and not even giving himself a chance to recognize the absence of warmth, he dashed towards the bathroom barely catching himself from tripping two times on the eight steps that took to get there. Swinging open the bathroom door, he ran in and yelped when his bare feet came in contact with cold white tiles. Looking longingly out the door, he pondered for a brief second whether or not he should go back to his bedroom to put on his slippers.

"I'm going to be late enough as it is. Shouldn't make it even worse. Sakura-chan will have my head for sure this time for being late—again." He groaned as he turned the faucet on and waited for the cold water to pass and the warm water to take its place.

Cupping his hands together under the running water and waiting until the water spilled over, he splashed it onto his face feeling the last remainders of sleep being washed away leaving him wide awake. Keeping his head down and close to the sink, he shook his head to get rid of some excess water. Bringing his head up, and blinking a few times to get the water out of his eyes, he looked at himself in the mirror.

Blue eyes. A beautiful shade of blue that no one seems to be able to name or, at least, no one seems to agree on. Doesn't matter whether they can place a name on it or not, though, people loved his eyes all the same. Blond hair. A lovely color that rivaled the sun's own goldenness. On either side of his face are three whisker-like scar that he's got from a childhood accident. His skin tone is a lovely, glowing tan. His body was lithe, and no bulky muscles ever appeared on his form. Naruto scowled at his face. Even at the age of twenty-two, he still haven't lost all of his baby fat and, according to his female co-workers, he looked "completely adorable!"

He sighed and ran a hand through his wet bangs that still had water dripping from it periodically. Done with his judgment of how he looked, he swung open his mirror and took out a cup with a toothbrush in it and toothpaste.

While squeezing toothpaste onto the toothbrush and filling the cup with water, he muttered, "Damn. I'll have to skip breakfast today if I want to make it to work at a reasonable time that I can blame on traffic for today's lateness. Not that Sakura-chan would believe it, but it's better then 'I didn't want to get up.'"

Brushing his teeth quickly, and washing his face even quicker, he darted back to his room making sure to look out for the things that made a good effort in trying to trip him on his way to the bathroom and began to search for something suitable to wear. Discovering the fact that his closet was close to being empty save a few suits and other things he wouldn't wear unless forced, and that most of the clothes that he would wear was scattered across his small apartment, he made a mental note to do his laundry and soon.

Thanking the gods that he still had a clean black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, and a pair of socks left, he hurriedly put them on. He then headed straight for his desk to rummage around for the information he searched for last night.

"Where is it? Where is it? Oh! There it is!"

Quickly grabbing the few pieces of paper, he risked a glance at the clock by his bedside and gasped. 7:55.

"How the hell—argh! Never mind! God, am I going to get an earful today. I'll never be able to get to work in five—no, wait. Four minutes. A crappy start to a crappy day."

Snatching his watch from amidst the clutter on his desk he ran out and he didn't even stop as he seized his coat that laid on the sofa. Without any time to spare to actually put his watch or coat on, he hung his coat over the same arm clutching the papers and put his watch in his mouth as he attempted to put on his shoes. Getting on one shoe, he opened the door and hopped out the door while attempting to put on the other shoe. After getting both shoes on, he locked his front door and scurried to the elevator and pressed the down button.

"Come on, come on," he urged as he watched the number climb higher and higher until it opened on the seventh floor. His floor.

Getting in, he pressed the button that will take him to the first floor and prayed that no one in the floors above him wanted to go down at the moment. To his relief, when the elevator doors closed, he felt the elevator going down. Taking this time to strap on his watch, put on his coat, and briefly look through his papers, Naruto practically shoved the elevator doors opened when it reached the bottom floor. Rushing out the doors, he ran to the bus stop and caught the bus just in time.

"Well, at least I didn't missed the bus," Naruto sighed as he let himself drop onto a seat that was close to a window.

Checking his watch, he grimaced. 8:04.

"Can't this bus go any faster?" he asked himself as he looked out the window and watched the scenery pass by as the bus inched forward slowly.

He gave a small jolt as he heard his cellphone ring. Already able to guess who was on the other end, he flipped the phone open and in his cheekiest voice he greeted, "Good morning, Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto! Where are you?" Haruno Sakura screamed. "Do you know what time it is?"

Checking his watch, and in a very casual manner he answered, "8:29."

"And what time does work start, Naruto?"

"Eight."

"Exactly! Why aren't you here yet?" she yelled into the phone causing Naruto to pull the phone away from his ear to prevent himself from going deaf.

"You can't blame me, Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined into the phone. "The bus is going really slow and there's so much traffic!"

"You just didn't want to get up again is what you mean," Sakura accused correctly.

Naruto laughed sheepishly and therefore proving Sakura right.

"Naruto," she sighed exasperatingly.

"Look, Sakura. I'm going to be there in about ten minutes or so. Yell at me there, okay? I'm sort of getting weird looks from people," Naruto said, glancing about the bus.

"Fine, but if you're not here in ten minutes…" she trailed off to let Naruto imagine the consequences.

"Alright! Alright! I'll be there soon! Sheesh!" Naruto hung up soon after that without giving any sort of warning. Sakura wasn't going to be happy with that, but he's already in a lot of trouble already as it is so he really didn't care any more.

He reached his stop in six minutes and his workplace in two. He scowled at the tall building before him and scowled even more at the businessmen and women that walked in and out of the building chatting on their phone about one business proposition or another. One good thing about his job was that he wasn't forced to wear a suit or something equally constricting. It was "recommended" but Naruto didn't give a damn about that.

Pushing past the doors, and giving a hasty wave to the security guard without actually looking at him, he jumped into the elevator that was currently already quite packed.

"Hey! Wait for the next one! It's tight enough as it is!" some guy growled.

"Oh, shut up!" Naruto growled back.

The elevator doors closed and the ceaseless talking of the businesspeople drowned out all signs of elevator music. At each floor the elevator door opened and people exited and entered. On the ninth floor, Naruto made his exit flipping his middle finger at the guy still in the elevator behind his back.

Walking in, he sighed exasperatingly at the mess and confusion before him. It always gets like this when it's nearing the beginning of a new month and they need to get a new issue out.

Naruto works for a magazine called Hanataba and oh, how he hates it. Before he started working there, Hanataba was a bridal magazine. That didn't go very well since there were already many popular bridal magazines out there and really, just who subscribes to these things unless they're planning to get married every single time a new issue comes out. Hanataba wasn't able to compete with the older, more well-known bridal magazines so they turned it into a teen magazine aimed at a female audience. The female audience part was what Naruto hated about his job.

Well, no, that's not the worst part. If he was the photographer or editor or something that didn't have to do what he does now, he probably wouldn't hate it. But the fact that he isn't any of those things, not even that something, and he is doing what he does now, is why he really, and truly hates it. He's a guy, for god's sakes! He should not be going around interviewing the "newest and hottest bachelors" in Japan! He. Should. Not. Not only does it give people a reason to look at him strangely when he tells them his occupation, but it makes him want to bang his head on the nearest wall every time they do look at him funny, or every time they ask because that will lead to them looking at him funny.

"Finally you're here!" Sakura exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Took you long enough!"

Naruto smiled. "Sorry."

"Have you gotten around to actually interviewing anyone yet?" Sakura asked, flipping her long pink hair over her shoulder.

"Well, I've done some research and I've narrowed it down to three guys." A sigh. "I've just got to call them up and see which one can make the fastest appointment."

"Don't even bother. Ino and I predicted that you wouldn't have gotten around to it so we did you the liberty of calling up the hottest bachelor in Japan and setting up an interview."

"The hottest? And who would that be?"

"Hey Sakura! Are you finished with your page?" Yamanaka Ino asked, poking her head from behind a doorway. Spotting Naruto, she said, "So finally here, ne? And here I was wondering whether or not you got lost in that mess you call a home!"

"Ah, shut up, Ino!" Naruto snapped with false hostility, a smile playing on his lips.

She laughed and turned back to face Sakura. "So are you done?"

"Pretty much. Here, let me get it for you."

"Okay, I'll be in here!"

Ino disappeared behind the doorway and Sakura walked to her desk. Naruto silently mused after his friend as he watched her go.

They first met in elementary, and to say that they got off on the wrong foot was an understatement. He was the class clown and people either really loved him or really hated him. She went into the category of "really hated him." She started out shy, and terribly sensitive about her large forehead. Not that she isn't now, but instead of crying she'll punch the person to Kingdom Come and no one dares make a joke about it now after feeling how hard she punches. Of course, when Naruto first made a joke about it in elementary, he didn't know she was that sensitive about it, and it didn't help that their classmates picked up on it and teased her mercilessly. Hence the reason why she hated him. She hated him for years after that, but somehow, someway, Naruto got her to accept his apology (maybe it was getting annoying after a few years) and then after that, they became great friends, and now they're here. Although, he was quite sure that she still harbors some hatred towards him, or at least really loves to see suffer.

Haruno Sakura. With her charming pink hair and her spring green eyes, she reminded him of the beauty of spring. Even her name couldn't escape that lovely season. And when spring comes around, love is always in the air. Naruto smiled faintly when he remembers that she has been his first love. A mere childhood's crush now, but he still holds the memory fondly because it had been so simple. But nothing ever stays simple for him. Nope, not at all.

That's a story for another day, though since his day was depressing enough as it is and he didn't need his past to make it even worse.

"So Sakura-chan, about the interview…"

"Oh, right! You're suppose to meet him at noon at the Konoha Palace."

Sakura rolled her eyes the instant Naruto wrinkled his nose in disdain. Certainly if he wasn't getting tired of the argument that was about to come, she certainly was!

"Konoha Palace?" Naruto whined. "Why not Ichiraku?"

"Naruto, we've been through this! Konoha Palace is a well-known, five star restaurant and Ichiraku… well… it sells ramen."

"What's wrong with ramen?" Naruto asked hotly, daring her to further her insult on his most beloved food.

"Nothing's wrong with ramen! You just can't expect a wealthy, sophisticated businessman with looks to kill to meet you there is all!"

"Oh, so he's too good for ramen then, huh?"

"Naruto! Just meet him at noon, do the interview, write it up in time for printing, and that's that!" Sakura huffed, snatching up papers from her desk, not caring what they were and marched off to where Ino was waiting.

Naruto scowled and crossed his arms across his chest childishly. Glancing at the three names on his list, he sighed.

"Guess you guys will have to wait until next month or so…" Naruto scowled, "I'm only ordering water. If I order anything else I won't be able to buy ramen or anything else for weeks!"

-------

"May I have your name, sir?"

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Oh, yes. There's already someone waiting for you. Right this way please."

Naruto followed the man, and took the time to look around. He never liked this place. Too uppity for his taste. He prefers things to be casual and simple, and he was sure that ramen was better than anything they served here. Cheaper too.

Columns supporting the building had fake vines crawling up them and at the top a bunch of fake leaves gathered. On one side of the wall hung a big fan with a very detailed picture of birds. On the other end was a small pond which held plenty of beautifully colored koi. At the end of the room, by the windows, sat a man silently sipping his cup of coffee. And that's who they were headed towards.

"Uchiha-san, Uzumaki-san has arrived."

Wait, what? Did he just say— oh hell no!

The man left and Uchiha Sasuke looked up from his cup of coffee, his dark eyes bore into Naruto's shocked blue ones.

"Aren't you going to sit?" Sasuke voiced after several minutes of silence with Naruto standing there in front of him, contemplating whether or not to run.

"Oh! Right!" I'm going to get you guys back for this…

Without even having to look at Sasuke, he could already tell that he was already exasperated with him. He was never patient with people, especially not with him.

"From my knowledge, this is suppose to be an interview, am I correct?"

Naruto rummaged in his bag for his paper and pen, but that was a mere attempt to avoid looking at Sasuke and to hide his shaking hands.

"Hmm? O-Oh, y-yea! I-I'm Uzumaki Naruto f-from Hanataba and y-you've been picked as this month's err… hottest guy." Naruto blushed, something he wasn't quite used to doing.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto who was still rummaging through his bag and smirked. "I see… Why'd they send you then?"

He doesn't recognize me, Naruto thought. A feeling of bitterness and relief surged through him. Bitter that he doesn't remember, but yet relieved that he doesn't remember at the same funny. Of course, what is there to remember?

"What do you mean?"

"What happened to the woman who's normally in charged of this? She was the one who called to set the interview, right?"

Naruto scowled. There goes the damn assumption again.

"I'm the one that's in charged of this section! The one that set the interview was either Sakura or Ino. Sakura's in charged of the newest beauty products and Ino's in charge of gossip."

If Sasuke was surprised, he hid it well. No one else would've been able to catch the flicker of emotion across that placid face, but Naruto had studied his expressions all throughout high school and can tell what Sasuke was feeling better than anyone else.

Yes, this was the horrible, depressing thing that happened in his past. If being an orphan at birth, being hated by mostly everyone he meets, and having to survive by taking odd jobs ever since he was old enough to be hired by someone wasn't enough, and the only normal thing in his life was having a crush on Sakura. Of course, that has to be taken away too and obviously the gods think it funny to make him fall in love with Sasuke.

It was Sakura's fault he fell in love with Sasuke, though. If she didn't have a crush on him while Naruto himself was crushing on her, none of this would've happened. Like other fools in love, Naruto wants to know why the person he likes like someone else. The only part he differed from the others was that, while studying Sasuke to see what about him appeals to Sakura so much, he fell for him himself. Whatever Sakura and the rest of the female population saw in Sasuke, Naruto unwillingly noticed as well and he fell out of love with Sakura and in love with Sasuke. That was a nasty shock in itself, but what really screwed him over was when Sakura and Sasuke started dating.

Naruto scowled to himself. He never blamed Sakura for dating Sasuke since 1) she didn't know and 2) all's fair in love and war. Nope, he never blamed her before when she was ignorant of his feelings, but he can definitely blame her now. She knows now. She found out a little later after she and Sasuke went their separate ways. From the current situation, it's quite apparent that they've kept in contact. Damn her. And right when he's at the final stage of letting go and moving on!

"Let's just get this interview over with," Naruto grumbled, not even bothering to hide his displeasure.

To be continued…

Um… hmm… I must've been high of something when I gave Naruto-kun such an occupation. But what I wonderful way to meet Sasuke-kun, no? –Beams- I was about to make it longer, but I decided that this was long enough. I have other things to update, you know! And if some parts talking about how Naruto's crush on Sasuke came about contradicts one another or something, please tell me. I had one idea while I was typing it, and then I got another idea (the one that's up now) so I might have missed some parts or something. Thanks!

- Starflower Sakura