Still don't own Naruto. The plot is moving along to something that actually resembles a plot. Kind of.

"Did you and Sasuke start dating?" one of the girls asked. "I thought you married the Sixth Hokage?"

Sakura's heart ached painfully at the girl's honest question. "It wasn't anything like that. I shared a special relationship with Team Seven. Kakashi-sensei had promoted teamwork and the bonds between teammates since day one.

"Not to say that the rest of Konoha's senseis don't as well," the retired jounin assured, "but Kakashi placed more emphasis on it then most. Team Seven was more than just teammates; we were family. And the only team that ever came close to what we shared was our generations Ino-Shika-Cho."

Given the dark histories they shared, the boys of Team Seven connected on a level Sakura couldn't really understand. Often times she felt like she didn't belong.

It was a feeling she absolutely loathed. She had put hours after hours of effort into training, struggling to step out of her teammates' shadows and walk beside them. Equal. Useful. Needed. The early hours, long days, and countless times she collapsed from chakra exhaustion achieved the recognition she craved from them, but she was still separate.

So, when Sasuke unexpectedly surprised her with that kiss, Sakura had immediately gone to the one person she could talk to about relationships.

"I don't see what the problem is, Forehead." Ino Yamanaka's blue eyes studied her as she picked up a piece of barbequed pork and placed it in her mouth. Chewing slowly, the blonde was mentally rehashing everything that the pinkette had shared with her.

"Isn't this what you wanted? To be with Sasuke?"

Sakura groaned. "That's just it, Ino. I don't want that. I haven't wanted a relationship with him in years. I don't love him anymore."

"You never did." Sakura looked up at her friend, startled. "Neither of us did. What we thought was love was nothing more than a teenage crush. He was cute, mysterious, and skilled. He was perfect. Naturally, you thought he was the one.

"Then the massacre happened." Ino sighed. "You've always had a soft heart, Forehead. You wanted to comfort him but were clueless how to approach him."

Sakura stared at her with something akin to dawning horror. "What did you do, Ino-pig?"

"I manipulated you," she admitted. "You were too shy to make the first move so I made you think that I would. I made it a competition between us because you stopped being a wallflower when you were fighting for something."

The pink haired girl closed her eyes tightly. Taking even breaths to calm the urge to reach across the barbeque pit and strangle her maybe best friend, she unclenched her fists, absentmindedly healing the half-moon grooves left behind by her nails.

"So none of it was real. My "love." Our friendship. Our rivalry."

Ino tried to speak up, but Sakura wasn't finished. "I spent years, years, chasing after Sasuke's affections. I hurt him. I hurt myself. I hurt Naruto." The outrage that had coated her words cracked at the mention of her knuckleheaded teammate.

Ino grabbed Sakura's hand with two of her own. "Please," she begged, "just listen. It may not have been love, but you had genuine feelings. You cared for him. I simply pushed you into thinking they were the strongest feelings they could be."

The rosette pulled her hand away, dropping her chin to her chest. Studiously ignoring her once best friend (could Sakura even consider them friends at one point?), she thought about what Ino has said.

The emotions were already present. Sakura had cared for the Uchiha before the massacre. Even without the blonde's help she had convinced herself that he was the only guy for her. Up until the chuunin exams, she had never taken notice of any other male. They were nothing like him and therefore she wanted nothing to do with them.

Sakura felt like clutching at her hair, and would have if she wasn't sure it would result in her tearing more than half of it out of her scalp.

What was she supposed to do now? Now that her feelings were not entirely her own? Now that she had no grasp on what she truly felt?

After what was only six minutes Sakura had made her decision.

"What's past is in the past. I can't focus on what was once. I need your helping with now. If you can help me figure that out, I'll forgive you. What did Sasuke mean by that kiss and how do I respond?" Sakura didn't comment on Ino's shiny eyes once she finished speaking.

The academy students broke out into a flurry of exclamations.

"She must have dated him. She loved him since forever. How could she ignore those feelings?"

"You heard her Yuzu. She didn't actually love him."

"Her last name is Uzumaki. Sakura-san obviously turned him down."

"Ne, ne, calm down." Sakura motioned with her hands for the class to settle. "I did eventually marry Naruto, but that was later."

"So you were with Sasuke first?"

"I wasn't having relations with anyone at that point. I asked him to meet me on the roof that night and told him in plain terms the conclusion I had come to; that I cared for him but had no wish to enter what was guaranteed to be a complicated relationship. I may have loved him once upon a time, but it was the immature love of a child that didn't know what it meant to love."

"What did he say? Was he upset?"

Sakura chuckled. "Not at all. He told me I was still annoying."

She let the class grumble over that answer. There were some parts of Team Seven that were too private for her to share. For her and Sasuke, annoying meant "you're thinking too much, so stop." To Sasuke, it wasn't intended to be romantic at all. It was simply his way of saying thank you.

Of course, the second time Sasuke had thanked her in that manner, for bending the rules and sneaking him into the Uchiha clan compound, Naruto had witnessed it. Being the hot head that he was, the blonde had screamed for the whole village to hear that Sasuke was taking advantage of her and then turned around and demanded to be allowed to kiss Sakura as well when he learned why.

Sakura had the word "no" on the tip of her tongue, but Naruto had swept in and pressed his lips against hers.

It was that moment that she knew she was screwed. After her talk with Ino, Sakura had sworn to never date one of her boys, but Naruto had ruined that. Because, with one short kiss, he had set her on fire.