Chapter 4

I Want to Hear Those Words From You

The first place in mind Sakura thought of searching for her blonde teammate, of course, was none other than Ichiraku Ramen. She was well versed with his habits, having spent all that time with him in Team Seven, aware that whenever Naruto was in a negative mood he would be cheered up by the sight of his favorite thing in the world, ramen. And not just any ramen, ramen from his best food stall in the Land of Fire, Ichiraku Ramen.

As the pink haired girl swung the curtain at the entrance to the stall, she half expected to find her blonde teammate noisily slurping at the contents of his bowl. She was not sure whether she was supposed to wait for him to finish eating in that case, but to her dismay, she was never allowed the chance to find out the answer to that question. There was no one else in the food stall apart from the owner, Teuchi, who was keeping his hands busy preparing ramen on the other side of the counter.

The elderly man wasted no time in greeting the newest customer to his stand. "Yo, Sakura! Fancy seeing you here today…." His enthusiastic greeting died down once he noticed the troubled look on her face. Something was not right here, the old man immediately realized.

"What's wrong?" He asked her in a concerned tone. The more he studied her facial expression, the more he took note of the fact that she seemed to be in some sort of a hurry.

"Teuchi-san, has Naruto been here?" Sakura asked after an extended period of silence. There was an unreadable look in her eyes just then as she focused her emerald gaze on the old man.

Teuchi paused a little, before saying, "He was here a while earlier, but he didn't stay long."

The news dejected Sakura a little, and she was just about to excuse herself and leave the counter to go and search for the blonde man elsewhere, when a second person appeared at the counter.

"Sakura, did you have some sort of a fight with Naruto?" Ayame asked, rejoining her father on the other side of the counter. There was a pensive look on her face.

Tilting her head to the side, Sakura did not answer, instead intently focusing on one of the stools that were arranged in a neat formation beside her. A look of guilt was evident on her face accompanied by a small feeling of shame, which Ayame did not waste any time in noticing. She felt a little sorry for both teammates.

Placing both hands on her waist, she said," I had a feeling it was something like that. Naruto-kun barely touched his ramen when he ordered it, saying that he wasn't feeling so well all of a sudden so he was going to go home and rest a little."

A glimmer of hope shone in Sakura at this information, and she felt grateful to the brown haired woman. Bowing, she expressed her thanks and immediately set out for the blonde man's home, her pace increasing with each step.

Once the pink haired girl vacated the shop, leaving the duo of father and daughter, Teuchi was the first one to turn on his daughter, "How did you know that it was a fight between the two?" His voice carried a tone of awe and amazement at what his daughter had just done. The younger girl, feeling extremely pleased in her own observation skills just then, could not hide the pride in her voice and gait, puffing out her chest slightly then remarking," Men are kind of easy to read in times like this."

~~Sakura~~

A few moments later, she had arrived at Naruto's doorstep, short of breath owing to the run she had broken into shortly after leaving the ramen stall. As she stood before the green, slightly dilapidated structure, she could not help but realize that her own heart rate had increased erratically. She was growing nervous, aware that this was the first time she had ever felt that way outside Naruto's house.

Calming her growing anxiety, she proceeded to knock on the door. She did not wait long to hear a response, the sound of footsteps on the other side growing louder as they approached the door.

She couldn't restrain herself. "Naruto, it's me."

The footsteps came to a halt; consequentially the door did not open to let the pink haired girl. Sakura was dejected by the show of hospitality, but somewhere in her heart she expected this sort of treatment from the blonde man. She reflected that if things were still normal between the two, by that time she would have already broken down his door and stormed into his room, at the end of her anger. But not that time. Things were far from normal between the two, and she was dead sure she had no right to storm into his apartment and act as if things were still normal. She was probably the last person Naruto wanted to see at that moment.

Patiently, she waited to see if the footsteps would retreat back into the house where they had come from. A few seconds elapsed, with no sound originating from inside the house, so Sakura took that as her cue to proceed talking.

"You don't have to open the door, okay? You don't even have to say anything too, but just, let me say this," she started, her voice slightly shaky from all the nervousness she was still feeling. Some of it wore off, prompting her to continue," I talked to Sai earlier, and well, I think I've not exactly been a good friend to you of late." At some point, she had leaned on his door unaware of what she had done. Once she had completed that sentence, she noticed that all of a sudden the task before her was harder than she had initially assumed. Still, she had come this far. So she intended to see this all the way through to the end.

"I won't ask you to forgive me. I won't say I'm sorry," she continued, her newly found confidence slowly rising with each sentence she said. Sakura was well aware just how much it would destroy Naruto if she gave him the impression that she pitied him.

"What I'm trying to say is that, well talking to Sai earlier helped me realize something. He was right when he said that I wanted to kill Sasuke because I was committed to my love for him," Sakura had a feeling that saying something like this would cause Naruto to cringe in pain, as he had to relive the pain of being told something as shattering as this twice….but she knew that it was the first step to repairing things between them. The first step in anything was always the hardest.

"But," her tone was sharp, giving no leeway for Naruto to linger in what she had said earlier, "there's more after that that both you and Sai don't know. See, when Sasuke-kun was about to slit my throat under the bridge earlier," her hand moved subconsciously to her throat where the dark haired man had choked her, and she could still feel the ghost feeling of his grip on her," my vision blacked out for a moment. I thought it was all over for me and all that waited for me was my death. But then, you appeared and saved me. Like you always have. You were always there for me, and somehow that's all I needed. Just you. Back when you told me you regretted falling for me, I realized you were going to be gone soon. And little by little, I slowly felt something in me go numb. I've never felt so alone before."

The words rung true as she said them, bringing with them vivid memories of the time in the Land of Iron when Sakura confessed to Naruto before her comrades. At first, she wondered why such a memory prodded at her, but she surprised herself as she realized that the truth in her words was still there, even after all this time. This fact brought a ray of happiness to her.

She took a huff to calm herself once more, then continued," Naruto, I know that I'm being really selfish right now, but this is what I really feel. I don't want to lose you. Stay, please." It was a small plea, but still, from the other side of the door, Naruto felt his heart nearly shatter into a million pieces from the sincerity in her tone.

At the end of her rant, Sakura realized that she felt as if a load had been eased of her, her heart and general mood now feeling lighter. A small smile crossed her face, as she allowed herself a tap on the back for being able to say what she wanted to say. "That's all I needed to say. I hope I'll see you soon, Naruto," she said in a conclusive tone, preparing to leave the front of his house. In truth, she was not sure how much he had heard, or if he had even bothered to stay till the end, but since she was able to pour out her heart to him, she realized that it was enough. Turning to her side, she prepared to descend down the spiral flight of stairs that led up to Naruto's house, but before she could take a few steps away, she caught on to the sound of a door unlocking behind her, only being able to turn her head to find her arm being pulled back, her body following suit, then a strong pair of arms wrapping around her.

Her eyes caught a flash of orange before she felt her body pressed against another body whose warmth she recognized familiarly. Her mind caught on a few moments later and informed her that it was Naruto, but still she could not deny the scare he almost gave her with the impromptu gesture. A few seconds elapsed, before Sakura noted with curiosity that Naruto's body was shaking and her shoulder was growing slightly moist. She could hear the soft sound of sobs next to her ear, astonished that Naruto was crying.

Placing a hand on his hair and pulling him slightly closer, Sakura asked him in a worrisome tone," What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just that, I think I've never been this happy and sad at the same time before," Naruto responded, his voice shaky between sobs.

Of course, the pink haired girl had not expected such a response from him, but it still brought her joy nonetheless. Her eyes stung with tears as she felt herself growing increasingly elated. "Idiot," she softly muttered under her breath.

"Hehe, I guess I am one after all. But at least I'm being honest, right?" He shot back Sakura's earlier sentiments at her, and the young woman could not help but feel amused at his cheekiness just then. She had missed seeing that side of him. Naruto removed his face from her shoulder, now looking at her with his cerulean orbs. The intensity he was looking at her with made her heart skip a beat, and she had to struggle to avoid a blush breaking out onto her cheeks.

"Sakura-chan, no matter how much you love Sasuke, I'll always be here for you," Naruto stated in a confident tone, grinning at the end of his declaration.

Sakura merely face palmed at this bold declaration. Clearly, this conversation was heading nowhere. "You still don't get it do you?" she retorted in an impatient tone, something that slightly scared Naruto. Letting go of her slowly, Naruto took a few steps backwards, a bead of perspiration breaking out on his forehead. Sighing due to exasperation, Sakura continued," Weren't you listening to what I was saying earlier?" Her voice was steadily losing its edge.

Meekly, the blonde could only say," I was?"

That was the last straw. Throwing her hands in the air, Sakura half shouted at Naruto ,"You seemed to have missed the part where I said I was over Sasuke."

"EEEEEEEH?!"

All traces of earlier nervousness had disappeared. Naruto's mouth was wide agape, his eyes having grown to the size of bulbs. His first thought was his ears were playing tricks on him, or even worse, Sakura was lying again like she had in the Land of Iron regarding her feelings for Sasuke. The fierce look her emerald eyes currently carried, however, ebbed away most of the doubts he harbored. It was a look of genuinely. Naruto felt a little relieved at this, but there still lingered doubts in a small corner of his heart.

"Does that mean…I have a chance now?" He asked in a barely audible voice, but still loud enough for the girl in front of him to hear. As soon as the words escaped his palate, he was visited by the uncomfortable feeling that he had just asked a ridiculously stupid question. He covered his mouth immediately, hoping against all odds that Sakura had miraculously missed what he had half-mindedly uttered there.

To his sheer embarrassment, however, Sakura arched an eyebrow in surprise, displaying that she had caught on to every word he had uttered crystal clear. A smile made itself onto her cheeks soon after. Naruto wondered what it meant. Shaking her head, she closed the distance between her and her blonde teammate, before saying, "It depends. There's something I want you to tell me first." Her voice carried a strange hint of mischievousness, which went unnoticed by Naruto.

The blonde man was befuddled by her sudden request, tipping his head in confusion.

Her cheeks a faint shade of pink now, Sakura cast her gaze downwards, before adding on in a flustered tone," What you told Sai, about your feelings. I want to hear it from you this time."

Naruto was astonished by the pink haired girl for the umpteenth time that day. He was rendered speechless, only being able to manage," Sakura-chan, I-"He was not sure what he was supposed to say.

To his further astonishment, muddled with embarrassment this time, Sakura took a step forward, closing out the distance between her and Naruto for good this time, as she proceeded to latch onto his chest, grabbing his jacket with both her hands.

"Please."

Naruto merely looked at the form of the young girl holding onto his body as if for dear life, being rendered more and more speechless with each of her actions. She looked so fragile. From the moment she had showed up at his doorstep, she had laid her heart out bare for him, and a part of him knew that she also wanted him to be honest with her as well.

It was still hard.

"But, the promise-"he stated hesitantly, grasping for straws as he tried to worm his way out of this conversation. He was still not entirely sure whether it was the right thing to do at this point in time.

Cutting him off, Sakura placed a finger on his lips, silencing him. It felt soft to the touch, and he was tempted to kiss it. The girl then proceeded to look up at him, and Naruto noted that the edges of her eyes were shining with tears.

"We're going to do it, together." She replied in a confident tone, flashing him a small smile.

Naruto looked at her green eyes, which were full of life at the moment and seemed to shine with a certain mystical nature. That gaze washed away his remaining doubts. She was sure of this. How could he deny her now?

His heartbeat was slowly receding to normal, as his mouth opened to say the words he had wanted to say a long time now, "I love you, Sakura-chan. I've always loved you, and I think I probably always will. No matter what happens between us, from here on out, I want you to remember that I will always love you."

He did not know why he said it twice, but it felt so right either way.

The tears that had stilled themselves in Sakura's eyes immediately flowed out at his confession, and a watery smile adorned her face. Wordlessly, she proceeded to take his face into her hands, placing a kiss on his welcoming lips. It was her first kiss, by no means was it meant to be perfect, but still, she loved the sweet feeling on Naruto's lips. The kiss was quite short, but she was still glad that it had happened. Releasing her lips from his, she could feel her heart laden with emotions that threatened to spill out of her, something that she had never experienced before with anyone else.

In that moment, Sakura Haruno knew that everything was perfect. It had always been around Uzumaki Naruto, and she had finally realized it.

"That's all I've ever wanted to hear."

~~End~~

A/N: And that's a wrap, folks! I hope this conclusion was okay, and that I didn't skim over anything, since I wanted to make this as conclusive and inclusive of everything as possible, a job I think I did fairly well. To tell you the truth, the story should not have taken this long to conclude, but well sometimes life tends to get busy so I wasn't able to update as soon as I wanted. Still, the story has come to a close now, so thank you so much for all the follows, reviews and favorites. Really, you guys are amazing and keep up the support and good work.

Till next time then, take care!