I do not own Naruto.
I would like to thank AbaraiSuki a lot for this chapter. I had a lot of trouble with this one and she was a great help XD So thanks
Anyway, this chapter is a shorter one, because as I mentioned above, it was harder to write. Hopefully, my next one will be back to my standard length XD
Chapter 2:
Naruto awoke to the burning light of the morning sun shining through the window of his apartment. Raising a hand to shield himself he squinted and looked around, realizing that it was indeed morning. It was morning and he hadn't slept at all that night. Groaning he got up out of his bed. After getting ready for the day and using every bit of willpower he had to not fall asleep in the shower, Naruto wobbled out of his apartment. As he walked up the street, people greeted him warmly, although many looked at him oddly after seeing how tired he looked. As he stumbled into his office, he practically fell into his chair behind his desk and eyed the paperwork on his desk. He blinked a few times to try to focus and pulled the first page off of the top of the pile. He read the report many times, but never understood what it said. It was like he knew what the page said but his mind just wouldn't connect it all for him.
After spending a long, long time reading the same page, he gave up. Tossing the page onto his desk, he turned his chair around and gazed out over the village.
The quiet of his office allowed Naruto's thoughts to once again drift back to the subject that had tormented him all night. He blushed as memories of Sakura drifted through his mind. The way she had looked in that dress had been…stunning to say the least. Even as her friend, Naruto had always noticed how attractive Sakura was. It surprised him that she had never seriously dated anyone. But she had mentioned that she liked someone now. Who could it be? Who was this person? Naruto couldn't help but immediately feel a dislike for whoever the lucky bastard was.
Naruto shook his head to clear his thoughts. He decided that a walk would be good for him. Maybe if he could get Sakura out of his head, he could get some actual work done. Naruto put on his hokage robes and left the tower, barely hearing the pleas from his assistant asking him to get back to work. As he walked down the street he greeted the people he saw and was met with smiles. He walked along, not really knowing where he was going but trusting his feet to lead him. Letting his feet guide him, he returned to the subject that had robbed him off his much needed sleep the night before.
Who was this person Sakura liked? Someone who liked her in the past? There were probably many people who liked her. But Sakura wouldn't ever admit to liking someone unless she knew them well. In fact, at the moment, there were very few people who she was close to who were available.
Naruto felt a small flicker of hope swell up inside him for a moment. He wondered if it could be him. He hoped it was him.
But that hope was silenced as quickly as it had arisen. He knew that hope was a good thing, but false hope could hurt. And he had been hurt many times before.
Naruto decided to take in his surroundings and find where he was. He found himself at a familiar cemetery. Naruto sighed before walking inside. He walked along the path towards a familiar grave. It was one he, as well as the other Team 7 members, often visited.
It was Sasuke Uchiha's grave. Many people disagreed with allowing him to be brought back to Konoha after everything he had done. The Rookie 11 were especially against it. But after much argument from Naruto and Sakura, people had relented and allowed Sasuke to be buried along with the other members of his clan.
Naruto had thought it was only right. Sasuke had only ever lived for his clan and he had died fighting for them, even if it was against Konoha and his former team members.
Naruto could still remember the day he died like it was yesterday. It was storming. The war had gone on for over 2 months. The Shinobi alliance had begun to win and had been working their way towards Madara Uchiha's hideout. Madara had gotten desperate. He sent Sasuke to the front lines and began to use the power of the Biju in his fight. Sasuke met Naruto and they fought. They had been evenly matched and fought for a long time. Eventually, Sakura showed up as well and began to help Naruto. Sasuke had gotten careless, and took one of Sakura's chakra loaded punches. It wasn't a pretty picture.
After the war had been won, Naruto and Sakura had felt bad for their teammate. They decided that they should bring him back. Many of their allies were angered by this. If it wasn't for the respect they had earned, they would probably have never been able to do it. They buried him in this cemetery and held a small funeral for him, with only the members of Team 7 present.
Naruto had been surprised to see that Sakura didn't cry once. He hadn't exactly expected a lot, not since it was her punch that had killed him. But still, he had expected a few tears. He remembered asking her about it afterwards. He asked about how she was so calm after everything they had gone through for him. He wondered how she could be so calm. The man they were burying was the one she had loved for so long. She had only smiled at him, and said that that dream had died a long time ago.
As Naruto neared the grave, he sensed a presence already there. He could guess who it was since only three people ever visited. And Kakashi wasn't in the village at the moment. He thought about walking away, but he knew that she would have sensed him coming already. She must have already known that he was there.
As the grave came into sight, he spotted Sakura crouching down in front of the grave. She was dusting some dirt off of the old gravestone. As he approached, she gave him a small smile and he returned it. He stood next to her and looked down at the gravestone.
After a few moments of silence, Sakura asked, "Don't you have paperwork to do?"
Naruto laughed. He scratched his head and smiled sheepishly. He didn't turn to face her. He wasn't sure what his reaction would be when she was this close to him. "I didn't sleep well. So I decided to take a walk"
He felt Sakura's gaze shift to him and could feel it take on a worried expression. 'Oops. I shouldn't have mentioned that' he thought to himself. Sakura's worrying gaze turned into a glare when he avoided her eyes. She poked him in the ribs and leaned in towards him. Naruto turned away, pretending to look around, just so she wouldn't see the blush that was appearing on his face. "Naruto? What's wrong?"
When he didn't answer, she poked him harder. "Don't ignore me. I know something's up. We're best friends for a reason, remember?"
Naruto eyed her from the corner of his eye. After watching her for a few moments, he smiled and shrugged. "Don't worry Sakura-chan. Nothing's wrong"
Sakura rolled her eyes. "You should tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help."
Naruto just remained silent. He looked over the grave in front of him. He could imagine that if Sasuke was alive, he would be smirking at him right now.
Sakura sighed and turned back to also stare at the grave. "Fine, don't tell me then" she said, a small amount of hurt in her voice. Naruto felt a small pain tug at his chest. But it wasn't like he could tell her why he lost so much sleep. "So…" Naruto said, searching for a topic, "How's it going with that guy?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Naruto regretted it. Sakura blushed and looked away. He mentally cursed at himself for bringing it up. It wasn't like he wanted to hear about it.
"It's…okay I guess", she answered after a few moments. She stared at her feet as she searched for her next words. "I haven't told him directly yet. I don't know if I should bring it up"
Naruto tried his very best to hide his discomfort in this topic. He had never talked to her about this kind of stuff before, for obvious reasons.
Naruto noticed it was silent after a few moments. He figured she wanted to know what he thought. He sighed. As much as he would have loved to kill whoever it was that Sakura was in love with, he decided to be the good friend that he was. "Why shouldn't you? You like them right?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah…but I think they moved on a long time ago"
Naruto looked over at her. He was surprised anyone could get over her. "What? Why? Who is it?"
Sakura blushed suddenly and just looked away. She bit her lip and looked like she was deciding whether or not to say who. After a few moments, she looked back at him and said, "Ah, sorry, it's a secret!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "What? Why won't you tell me?"
Sakura stuck her tongue out and said, "That's revenge for not telling me what's wrong".
Naruto just chuckled. At that moment, his stomach made a large growling noise, and both of them burst into laughter. Sakura smiled and asked, "Do you want to go for some ramen?"
As Naruto nodded furiously, Sakura sighed and began to walk out of the cemetery. When he didn't follow, she turned to look at him curiously. He was staring down at Sasuke's grave. After a few moments, he said, "Ah, sorry, I'll follow you in just a minute". Sakura nodded, before walking towards the cemetery's entrance. Naruto eyed the bounce of her hair and the sway of her hips for a moment, before tearing his eyes away to look down at the grave. He felt the small pain, which was now becoming familiar, grip his chest again. As he stared down at Sasuke's name on the small stone, he sighed. 'I guess that Sakura will just never like me in the way that she liked you, teme'
Naruto could just imagine Sasuke's indifferent shrug and the small smirk at Naruto's dilemma.
'But…' Naruto thought as he glanced over to where Sakura was standing, waiting for him. 'If it means that Sakura-chan can be happy, then I will be the friend that I'm supposed to be'
With a small smile, Naruto turned away from the grave and began to walk towards his pink-haired teammate. She gave him a small smile and turned to walk with him as he approached. As they walked, Naruto glanced over and saw the smile that was still present on Sakura's face. He returned his own smile and thought, 'If it means that I can see Sakura-chan smile like this every day then I guess that I can keep my own feelings hidden. All I can do is endure the pain it causes me'