Chapter 9: Loveless

Sakura's POV

Sasuke was acting strange. I left his apartment after I spoke to him more about the wedding plans and he just sat beside me on the couch, munching away at cookies he had told me he cooked earlier. He then invited me to eat lunch with him (apparently he cooked a feast which he could not eat himself) and that when I really left.

So yes Sasuke was acting strange.

When I was speaking to him, he didn't bother to fake interest like he usually did but he just sat there looking out into space. And he eating sweets is even weirder for I know as a fact that Sasuke hates sweets. He always throws away the Valentines chocolates I give him each year and they were of the highest quality too! But he kept the flowers and that was enough to keep me happy.

Currently I am standing in Naruto's office, waiting for his return from his meeting with Gaara. I had sent a message to the Sand asking for Naruto to come back for if Sasuke isn't going to listen to me, then Naruto sure as hell would. I hope he doesn't have those long meetings he usually does with Gaara. Now that I think about it, the last time I saw Gaara he was laying under Naruto in a very compromising position. Could they be…together? Now that would be strange but I can see it happening. Two boys with lonely pasts and demons locked inside their bodies help each other heal from those emotional wounds and slowly fall in love. Sounds like something out of the books Kakashi-sensei reads, except with less smut.

Not that I would know.

Moving on…

But yes it would be cute if they were together! Then me and Naruto can talk about troublesome boyfriends and how they never treat their partners right! I giggled at the thought of me and Naruto sitting down, drinking tea saying how much a pain in the ass Sasuke can be sometimes and how Gaara always leaves sands on the covers.

Damnit where the hell is Naruto? I want to discuss the wedding. I can't wait for the wedding! It will be the day me and Sasuke will begin the rest of our lives together.

That will give me enough time to get him to love me.

Yes, I know Sasuke doesn't love me and it hurts to think about it but I have learned to accept that he is only using me to carry on his Uchiha bloodline. That's why I have a plan. One must never give up on true love. Once me and Sasuke start living together the he will have to fall in love with me sooner or later.

Of course I'll have to help along. I'll work hard to become stronger for Sasuke-kun. I have been with him long enough to know that power is what interests him the most. That's why he never cast me even a second glance back when we were team 7. I was very weak compared to Sasuke and even to Naruto. That's why I trained with Tsunade while Naruto went to train with Jaraiya. I learned everything I could from her so I could become stronger to help Naruto bring back Sasuke-kun. And even though I have power equaled to the strongest jounins, I still must not be good enough. He still doesn't see anything more than a teammate and friend.

Well at least I hope he sees me as a friend.

I sigh and completely relax my body as I sit on the couch of the Hokage office. Do I really want to push my feelings on Sasuke?

No! I must not give up! If there was one thing Naruto had taught me it was to never give up on anything! That's how Naruto became Hokage and this is how I'll win Sasuke-kuns heart!

"Oh, Hi Sakura!"

Well speak of the devil.

I look towards the entryway and see Naruto closing the doors behind him, moving to sit next to me.

"So you were the one who called me back…" He looked a bit irritated when he said it but he still kept a smile on his face.

I must have interrupted something important.

"I'm sorry" I apologize, "did I interrupt something?"

"No no, it's fine!" he rubs the back of the head, and I know he's lying but i don't say anything.

"So what did you want to talk about?" he asks and I was excited to talk about the wedding before a questioned popped into my head.

"Naruto, are you and Gaara-san together?" I just had to ask.

I see red dust Naruto's cheeks and I cant help but giggle. That blush said it all.

Of course he tried to lie to me.

"No, of course not! What makes you think that?" He gives a nervous chuckle and I tell him to stop lying because it's obvious. Of course he denies it again so I hit him into admitting it.

"Why deny it Naruto! Frankly, I think it's cute."

He was rubbing the bump I gave him when I said that and he looked at me with a surprised look on his face and he asked "You approve?"

"How can I not? I think you two would live a happy life together." Just like me and Sasuke will.

His eyes light up "You really think so?" he looks down and twiddles his fingers, a bit like how Hinata use to do, "Because at first I was thinking of keeping it a secret but I guess I should go right out and say it…"

I smile brightly at him and pat him on the back. "You should tell the world Naruto! Plus this is great for the relationship between the Sand and Leaf, not like it wasn't great before but now it'll be an unbreakable treaty." As long as they don't break up. A war might break out if they do…

He looks at me in the eyes and I can see a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"Please don't tell Sasuke though. I don't think he'll take it well."

"Sasuke? Don't worry about Sasuke, I'll handle him if he tries to do something funny."

His eyes become even sadder when I said that and I can't help but think something happened between the two. The he brings up the wedding.

"Sakura…the wedding is in a few days isn't it?"

I look at my mental calendar and see that he's right.

"Yeah it is, in 3 days to be exact. Wow, it's so close! Good thing I got everything done, all that's left is what you will wear Naruto." Of course I cant have the man who marries me and my Sasuke to be dressed poorly. I'm happy he brought the wedding up, now I can talk to him about it and we can go shopping for some nice clothes. Maybe a prettier robe than those Hokage robes he's required to wear.

"Sakura, don't you think it's too soon to be getting married?"

I was a little taken back at that question. Too soon? I don't think it was soon enough! If the wedding were sooner, Sasuke might already be in love with me by now. I voice my thoughts.

"What do you mean too soon? I don't think it's soon enough!"

He looks down and I can tell he's struggling to tell me something. He knows something about Sasuke I don't, I can tell. He must of seen something or heard something recently because he wasn't protesting about the wedding a few days ago. I know! Maybe that's why Sasuke was acting weird because something happened. I need to know what's wrong with Sasuke!

"Naruto…what happened to Sasuke?"

He looks at me surprised and a little confused.

"What do you mean? Nothing's happened to him…"

"Something must've happened to him! He's acting strange and so are you Naruto! I can tell you are hesitating to tell me something!"

I couldn't help but scream at him. I know something's wrong and I need to know damnit!

"Sakura…Sasuke…well, I have to tell you but…it's a bit hard to say" I bit down on my lip, readying myself to what was to come, "Sasuke, he doesn't…love…you."

I sighed in relief. Is that all? Silly Naruto I know that already! Does he really believe I am that clueless. I laugh a little and Naruto sends me an irritated look.

"You're taking this better than I thought you would!"

I smiled at him and told him as one would tell their child "Silly Naruto, I already knew that."

"You did!" he jerks up, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Yes, I do"

"But but, if you know then why are you still marrying that bastard!" he makes jerky hand movements which is what he always does when he's angry or confused or both.

I smiled up at him and begin to calmly explain to him what I know and my plan, "I know Sasuke doesn't love me and only want to marry me so I may have his children and continue the bloodline and I have no problem with that. And before you go off yelling your head off telling me how foolish I'm being, I just want you to know I have a plan to make him fall in love with me."

He still stands there, mouth agape and at a loss of words. So I continue.

"Naruto, I'm going to be living with him, sleeping with him, spending most of my time with him, he is bound to love me sooner or later. Plus, I am training hard to become stronger so Sasuke will acknowledge my strength just how he acknowledged yours."

It felt nice telling someone about my brilliant plan so they may recognize my genius. Of course I'm sure Naruto already knew of my genius but it wouldn't hurt pushing it a little more into his mind.

He seems to have snapped out his shocked state because now he was just staring at me, his eyebrows furrowed with an expression on his face which I could now describe. I'm sure he doesn't think my plan works but I'm determined to have this plan end in success. Sasuke will love me and our children will not grow up with a father who doesn't even love their mother.

Naruto wants to say something, I can tell, but I didn't want to hear his negative comments so I put up a hand to silence him and said "I know what you're going to say so you don't have to say it. Let's just drop the subject because no matter what you think, or what anyone thinks, me and Sasuke are getting married. He's too deep into this to stop now." Naruto's expression had become darker and I tried to make him forget about it by smiling and changing the subject.

"Alright, now for what I really came for," I stand up from the couch and move around him to the door, "I need you to come shopping with me later today or tomorrow so we can buy you clothes to wear to my wedding. I don't want you wearing what you always do so we're getting you better more appropriate clothes. Just send for me when you have the time." I open the door and walk out but not before I say my farewell.

Well I think that went well. I just hope Naruto doesn't tell Sasuke what I know. That might ruin my plan.

I like Sakura, I really do (well now I do, before I hated her guts!) and I know she was OOC but I had to make her that way for the sake of this fanfiction!

And I took an extremely long time to update cuz I was uninspired and had no idea where this story will end up but I re-read previous chapters and became inspired to write. Plus your reviews motivated me so keep them coming! Good thing is now I know exactly where this is going and how to end it all so its smooth sailing for me.