Sakura Haruno was an intelligent young woman. She wasn't naïve by any standard, and she understood the workings of the world. She knew the flow of this life, and she accepted it. She knew she loved Sasuke-kun, and she knew he would never love her back. She knew his heart belonged to another, the same person she had rejected so long ago.
Naruto Uzumaki.
She knew that when he snuck out to meet her, whether on the training grounds or somewhere in the forest, he was trying to sneak away from his own desires. She would have had to be blind to miss the way the Uchiha looked at Naruto. She knew that, because of this, she would have a better chance of getting together with Ino than with Sasuke, but none of that mattered, not really.
What mattered was that she accepted his self-denial and encouraged it, despite her seeing how it was breaking his heart in two. She welcomed every stolen kiss, every illicit caress seen only by the wind and moonlight. She knew that every time he laid his lips on her soft skin, every time he whispered in her ear that he loved her, he was lying. He was lying to her, and to himself. And it all went back to Naruto.
Sakura understood that should Naruto ever discover and reciprocate Sasuke's feelings, her usefulness would be at an end. He would be done with her, casting her aside like a dull kunai knife, and she was prepared for that. She could handle it, because she had long ago given up hope that she could ever truly win his heart.
So for know she relished the feel of his pale skin on hers, craved the hot kisses trailed down her neck, all the while inside she was screaming for no more lies.
-Fin-
