Stuck To Choose

SasuNaru/NaruSaku

Chapter 3

After leaving the tent, I wasn't very sure what to expect anymore. But what I was met with was just the usual; Kakashi sitting on a near-by log with his nose in his pervy book and Sakura gathering her items randomly throughout the campsite.

Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

I couldn't exactly say I was relieved, but I couldn't say that I was worried, either. I guess it was a mixture of the two; glad he wasn't around so that I wouldn't have to deal with any uncomfortable situations, but also wondering where the hell he could have gone in aiforest/i, of all places. I decided to just shrug it off, he'd come around eventually. And if he didn't, Sakura and I wouldn't dare leave without him.

That's also what was bugging me. Sakura. What was I going to do about Sasuke if I still had this mega-crush on Sakura, as far as everyone else knew, especially her. Sure, last night had been interesting, and I had felt things that I never had before, things I might not feel with a girl, or maybe even another guy. To complicate things more, I don't even think I'm actually iin/i to guys! Sasuke's the only one. Then again, I can't see why not; it only explains why he has so many fan girls. And...Maybe now a fan boy.

I shook my head roughly at that. No. INO!/i I wasn't falling for my best friend, my rival, my team mate, MY Sasuke!

…Okay, maybe I iwas/i falling for him. And falling ihard/i.

So, I'll admit it to myself. I had a huge crush on Sakura-chan, and I'm beginning to like…oh, who am I kidding, I've liked him for a long time!! I like him a lot!!!!

All this thinking seriously was making my head hurt, so I decided it best that I sat down for a bit. Maybe it was the lack of sleep that was making me think these crazy things? Even though I know full well that these thoughts aren't all that crazy; they're just the truth.

So, the truth now. No beading around the bush. I have a big crush on my team mate and friend, Haruno Sakura, and now I've come to like my other team mate, best friend, and eternal rival, Uchiha Sasuke even more.

…The truth hurts. But it's the truth.

I sighed, gripping my head as I leaned against the trunk of a tree, sitting in the shade near where Sakura was now working on un-pitching her tent. That reminded me; I still had to pack up me and Sasuke's tent. But that could wait. I liked watching Sakura-chan work; it fascinated me and kept me busy.

I know, that sounds really…weird, like I'm a stalker or something. For that I blame the Pervy Sage, but my attraction to her is that and no less; an attraction. So of course I'd watch her, and she either didn't mind or never noticed. Sometimes I'd catch myself staring at her whenever she'd move in a certain way and notice how perfect her hair framed her delicate, attentive face and really brought out her beautiful green eyes, or how her body was perfectly curved and her clothes swayed in the wind. Something about Sakura-chan was just different about the other girls. She wasn't too shy, and not too bold, she was smart and very pretty, and she was all-around a nice person. Unless you got her mad, then she's just plain scary. I should know, I've seen that part of her many…many times.

I opened my hazy blue eyes to look at the green leaves above my head, and I couldn't help but smile. I loved nature, I really did; the way it was just so beautiful without even trying. And it always reminded me of Sakura-chan, too. She never really tried to look the way she is, she just sort of…does. That's the kind of beauty that I love; natural beauty. Not like Ino, who puts pound after pound of makeup on every day. I don't know why she even does, if it all just melts off during training anyways. Girls have always been a mystery to me….

Maybe that's why I like Sasuke so much? But then again, he's not any easier to understand; if at all, he's even more difficult. He never really tells me much, and he's always so quiet and protective about everything. In his own Sasuke-way of course. And everything that he says just has to be perfect and hand-picked from his mind. He's never scared, and he always has that blank face whenever I look at him; emotionless, indifferent. It's like….it's like he's wearing a porcelain mask or something. But that's also what I like, and this is probably the reasons that the girls like him too. His skin is a milky white, very pale and soft and smooth...Which is a wondrous contrast with his onyx hair and eyes.

And his hair, that was another mystery! How the hell did he get it to stay up like that?! I know he doesn't use gel, because his hair runs free when the wind blows it, and it's not spiky in the slick sense. And if he idoes/i gel it, why the hell would he style his hair like ithat/i?! It looks like a duck's ass! …But I can't help but love it, too.

His eyes were another thing; similar to his face, but completely different. I've heard people say that eyes are the gateway to people's souls. Yeah, well they better tell that to Sasuke because he keeps a pretty tight hold on his soul. His eyes, although dark, show usually nothing. Yes, there's the glimmer of deviousness, of hatred, and vengeance and of content from time to time, but I've never exactly seen a Sasuke behind them. It's sort of like he's hiding behind those eyes all the time…

The only time I've ever even been close to seeing his real self was last night and our battle with Haku. With Haku, he practically idied/i to save me, and I did all I could to save him. Last night he showed me that he icould/i be compassionate if he wanted to; that he did have a side that really cared.

Then again, if he didn't care, why would he bother talking to me? I felt my eyes close and my head start to throb once more. Thinking about all this at once ireally/i wasn't a good idea for me. Once I looked back up at Sakura, she was gone, too. I furrowed my eyebrows as I stood, looking around curiously, wondering as to where she might have gone. Did she go look for Sasuke? I noticed her tent was already down, and so was mine, so either Sasuke was back and did that or Sakura had done it for me. I guessed Sakura had, seeing as Sasuke-teme would probably just get angry with me and tell me to do it or something. He was always the bossy type.

Out of nowhere, Sakura stepped in front of me, smiling her sweetest as she gazed into my eyes. Immediately I could feel the grin growing on my face, my whiskered cheeks growing upwards as my grin widened. "Hey, Sakura-chan! I was wondering where you went!" I blurted out. I never was able to think much when I was with her, so it was normal for me.

She only smiled and nodded, returning the greeting with a softer "I went into the forest for a moment. Have you seen Sasuke around? It seems like he's disappeared or something…" It sounded like she was uncertain. Now I began to wonder…did Sakura-chan still like Sasuke? I mean, sure, every girl in Konoha has come to have at least a crush on the avenger, and Sakura had told me she had gotten over it a while ago…but could she still have some feelings for him that she didn't want me knowing about?

This worried me. It worried me a lot. I was beginning to worry myself, and I was about to go off into another thinking tantrum before I caught myself and remember that Sakura was still right here. I scratched the back of my neck and offered what I could. "Sorry, Sakura-chan, I haven't seen him since he left the tent…"

She seemed unsurprised and gave a small shrug, offering his sweetest smile. "Well, that's okay, I'm sure he'll come back soon enough. Besides, it doesn't look like we're going anywhere soon with Kakashi-sensei reading his book again," She then looked over to Kakashi, who seemed to be in a completely different world from us, off with bimbo girls and muscular guys. I only rolled my eyes at him as I looked back to Sakura, noticing once more how very green her eyes were. Every time I looked into her eyes, I always felt like I was in a trance or something. It was like I was floating, or in a world where nothing could go wrong, and it was just myself and her, together and alone, just to be here….

"Oi, Usuratonkachi, Sakura, we're leaving,"

That snapped me back to the present easily. Very easily. That voice could belong to no other than Sasuke. I looked to him, and he and Kakashi were standing near the tree where I had been, backpacks strapped on and tents un-pitched. I looked around confused, wondering really for how long Sakura and I had been standing there, just looking into each other's eyes. She was blushing lightly, looking uncertainly from Sasuke to Kakashi, and nodded with a small "Hai!" before grabbing her belongings and dashing towards their retreating backs. I did the same, catching up so that I was right behind Sasuke and Kakashi, with Sakura to my right.

Sasuke hadn't looked at me since from the moment he had called my name. And by that look, this was going to be one hell of a trip to the Land of Waves.

About twenty minutes after our departure, Sasuke had unnoticeably fallen back so that he was by my side now instead of Kakashi's, and Sakura was farther up ahead. Meaning, if Sasuke and I had wanted to speak about something, and we did it quietly, they wouldn't hear a word. Probably perfect for him.

That is, if Sasuke even ended up saying a word to me. Usually when he's angry, he's either extremely quiet-as always, but you can tell that he's angry just by his aura-, or he entirely blows up and yells at you. I was the one he usually yelled at, if I wasn't already the ionly/i one he yelled at. But it wasn't much, he'd say a few words angrily my direction, then leave to be alone and not be found for the rest of the day. I wonder what he does when he goes off like that…

My thoughts were cut short as I felt eyes on me, and I look over to see it's Sasuke looking straight at me. I can't help but feel myself blush from the intensity of his gaze, not being able to read any of the emotions that hid behind the darkness-as always. He didn't say anything at first; we just looked at each other; me with confusion, him with something fully indescribable. Then he shook his head, looking away from me with a bitter smirk tainting his lips. Confusion was the only thing pouring onto my face now as I watched him, wondering whether I should ask or not. He made the decision for me. "Looks like you and Sakura were having a good time," He spoke softly, I myself almost not hearing him had I not been so concentrated on the ravenette. Another blush splashed across my cheeks as I frowned. I wasn't sure how to reply to that, so I just did with the obvious. "Where were you the entire time?"

He only rolled his eyes at me and threw back an "I was training," nonchalantly. Then he spoke again, making it sound like he wanted to stay on the topic. "…You seemed to be lost when you looked at her,"

Now I was thrown back. "What do you mean by lost?! I knew exactly where I was and what I was doing!" I snapped back, lowly, of course. It would be strange if Kakashi or Sakura caught even a snippet of THIS conversation. He rolled his eyes here. "I meant, you seemed lost in her eyes. Like you couldn't look away if you tried," I noticed that with each word he said, he was trying to say something else. And there were tinges of jealousy hidden within his words; I could ifeel/i it as he said them. "Well…I kinda was…" I murmured, feeling my blush intensify as I looked to Sakura now, knowing she couldn't see me.

"You don't look at each other the same," He said suddenly after a long pause. He hadn't said it bitterly this time, no trace of jealousy or hate; just as a simple fact. "Wh-What?" I couldn't help but not understand this one. He sighed, looking to me with tired eyes. "I said that you and Sakura don't look at each other the same. You look at her like you're mesmerized, like she's the greatest thing in the world and she's all yours or something, like something beautiful waiting to be claimed, while she…she looks at you like nothing more than a friend. She may show interest…but not in the way that you do…"

Sasuke never fails to shock me. And this time for two reasons; this was the most words he's used in a sentence that I've ever heard him say in ages. It was kind of hard to keep up. And…that he had actually even said that in the first place. It seemed like he was finally opening up. And I iswear/i, it sounded as if he was about to say more before he finished that sentence, something very close to the lines of "not like the way I do,". That made me blush deeply, for reasons I was too occupied to figure out now, and I just looked at him. I never knew that this avenger of mine-yes, I will now call him mine, because he technically is mine- could actually be so…sentimental. I smiled softly to him, and in a very low, very soft whisper, I said "….You wish that I'd look at you that way…ne?"

I could almost ifeel/i the blush the landed across his face at my words, and he looked down to cover it with his ebony bangs. He said nothing, and he did nothing but walk forward and keep his eyes trained on the ground in front of him. This was definite proof. And here I couldn't stop myself as I walked a little closer to him, close enough that our hands brushed every so often, and when I had built enough courage to do so, I let my hand slip into his the next time they bumped together.

What made my heart soar was that he held onto mine as well, and he never let go.