Like a Love Song Chapter 6: As If It's Your Last, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the song

Song: As If It's Your Last by BLACKPINK

Rated: T

It's not that Sakura tried really hard to hide her crush on the smartest boy in the class, it's just that she knew he loved his peace and quiet. And tomatoes. All things she learned from being lucky enough to grow up with him, albeit from afar.

Sasuke was more than just the good-looking boy from next door, he was also effortlessly brilliant and athletic among so many things, and with a heart of gold, Sakura's heart did not stand a chance against his charms. But still, she didn't want to overwhelm him with her feelings. She learned her lesson from when she was younger and would try to smother him with affection. At the same time, she also hasn't really attempted to kill any feelings she has for him.

All of this led to her being quite surprised when Sasuke approached her at her locker between classes.

"Sakura," a voice - a voice that she knew very well - says, almost next to her.

Sakura lets out a shriek as she drops her calculus textbook. "Fuck," she exclaims before remembering who just approached her, "Um. I mean... Hello, Sasuke-kun" - Sakura could only chuckle awkwardly, forgetting that Sasuke hated it when she called him that - "Sooo, Sasuke, what's… up?"

"How would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Whenever Sasuke managed to surprise Sakura in any way, he couldn't help but to find her reaction especially cute. Sasuke would have to be blind to not notice that Sakura is pretty and things, while not necessarily mutually exclusive, that are most often used when it comes to describing Haruno Sakura.

He technically only needed a girlfriend to get his parents and his fans off his back, but he would be lying if he were to say that he wouldn't mind having a reason to spend some time with the smartest girl in the class. Especially considering that she avoided him as much as possible. This would also make it possible to find out why she refuses to interact with him in any way. Killing two birds with one stone and whatnot.

The added benefit of monopolizing Sakura's time… well that was also something else he would enjoy. Knowing all her fans would scowl at him gave him a surge of adrenaline. Thinking of Sakura having eyes only for him again gave him a flutter in his stomach. It's not that he also liked Sakura in that way… well maybe just a little.

"Is this a joke, Sasuke," she asks, narrowing her jade eyes and bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Why would I be joking about this? I'm serious," Sasuke replies, his visage betraying no emotion.

"Well, as far as I'm aware, you don't really like me all that much."

Sasuke tilts his head to the side slightly. Why would she think that?

"You're being annoying" - Sasuke notices hurt flash across her face - "Just answer me… please."

Sakura stares at him with her vibrant, jade eyes until they harden with determination.

"Alright, Sasuke. I'll be your girlfriend."

Sasuke leaves her stunned when he leans forwards and kisses her on the cheek, leaving his smirk unnoticed as he walks away, fighting an urge to turn around and see her.

Sakura tried her best to pay attention in the rest of her classes after Sasuke asked her to be his girlfriend, but all she could think about was how one small kiss made her heart flutter and her face heat up like never before. It was… annoying.

How she hated that word. Ever since she first heard that word come out of his mouth when they were younger, Sakura has done everything in her power to never hear that word again. Even if it meant only admiring Sasuke from afar. Yet - apparently - her doing that had no effect on the way that Sasuke viewed her.

As she was walking to her locker, she notices Naruto, Sasuke's best friend, pull him into a room. Curious, she attempts to follow, noticing the door slightly ajar. Sakura is not usually one to pry or eavesdrop, but something about Naruto's expression made her think it had something to do with her.

"Teme! I didn't know you liked Sakura!"

So it did have something to do with her.

"I don't see how that's any of your business, dobe."

"It's my business because she's a nice person, and she deserves better than just being someone you string along and pretend to date so your parents don't try to set you up with their close friends! I bet she doesn't even know -"

Sakura did not have to hear the rest of what Naruto was saying. She had heard everything she needed to hear, and just like that, her image of Sasuke was ruined. Perhaps he didn't have the heart of gold she had always thought he had.

As she was walking away, she couldn't help but to mutter, "Two can play this game, Sasuke. Just you wait."

Sakura walked to volleyball practice, wearing a fake smile that did not reach her eyes. Ready to take all her anger out on the volleyballs during practice. Plotting how to make Sasuke fall in love with her.

Sasuke had started drowning Naruto out. What did he know about how he felt about Sakura? How did he know he didn't want to actually date her? Especially considering the fact that an upperclassman was about to ask her out today. Knowing that Sakura was his and not that upperclassman's had made him feel giddy for the rest of the day. He could barely contain his smirks all day.

Throughout the day, Sasuke was able to come to the conclusion that he may have had a crush on Sakura for a while now. Ever since their younger days. He would never tell anyone this, but Sakura's attention was the only one he craved. Which is why he was annoyed when she stopped fawning over him. Granted, he was the one that made her keep her space, but he had a cold façade to maintain!

That annoying girl had always been on his mind, and now Naruto was acting like he never once knew her name. Sasuke had to hold in his scoff.

"How do you know I didn't actually want to date her," Sasuke cuts Naruto off, causing Naruto to stutter in confusion.

"Are you telling me you actually like Sakura-chan?"

"Obviously, dobe. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked her to be my girlfriend."

"But… I thought it was just because of your parents…"

"That's an added benefit. I… I have actually" - Sasuke muttered the rest, never really being one for letting his emotions out - "likedherforawhile."

"WAIT, WHAT?"

"And I heard that that stupid upperclassman, Sasori, was gonna ask her out, I had to make my move before it was too late," Sasuke whispered, urging Naruto to keep his voice down.

"But didn't she used to like you? Why do you think you had some kind of claim-"

"Because I overheard someone say she still liked me," Sasuke said, not being able to suppress the arrogance that dripped from his voice.

"Huh. So you both actually like each other?"

"Aa."

Sakura was just exiting the locker room, ready to head home when she bumped into something hard. Looking up, she notices it is Sasuke.

"Hey. Was practice alright," he asks with a soft smile, causing her heart to race. Oh, he was good. Too good.

"Yeah," Sakura says, hoping the blush on her face wasn't that obvious, "What are you doing here, though? Is basketball practice over, too?"

"Aa. I wanted to take you home, if that's alright. It's late and I don't like the idea of you walking home alone," he says softly. Sakura couldn't help but feel dizzy. She never really expected him to be paying her all this attention. But then she remembered his conversation with Naruto.

Putting on a fake smile, which she knew he could not discern from her regular smile, "Yeah, that sounds great!"

He takes a step back and holds his right hand out, causing Sakura to tilt her head in confusion.

Sasuke offers a small smirk, before reaching for her left hand, and pulling her along, weaving their fingers together.

Sakura, startled, did not notice the light blush on Sasuke's face, or the way he fondly looked at her as they started walking together to his car. They were so caught up in each other, they also did not notice Naruto exiting the school behind them, smiling.

Once arriving at his car, he let go of her hand, only to open the door for her, and close it once she was situated on the passenger seat. She buckled up her seatbelt, and while waiting for him to get in the car, she couldn't help her mind from wandering.

How far was he going to go to get his parents off his back? She believed that this relationship would not last long, much to her despair, but she hoped, prayed, that this was more than she had understood it to be. During volleyball practice, she came to the realization that she most likely missed part of the conversation that Sasuke and Naruto had. She knew she may have just been naive in her thinking, but she still hoped that this was the real deal.

A small part of her just knew that this was nothing but the dreams of a younger Sakura.

They sat in a comfortable silence until they somehow made it to Sakura's home.

"Wait a minute, Sasuke-kun" - Sasuke's heart fluttered at the use of the long forgotten suffix, even though he figured she probably used it without thinking - "How do you know where I live?"

Fuck. Sasuke was not sure how to tell her that he used to follow her home to make sure she made it home safe.

"You told me before we even left the parking lot," Sasuke lied, hoping she wouldn't question him too much.

"Really?" - Sakura scrunched her nose in a way that he couldn't help but to describe as cute - "Wow. I must have been tired after volleyball practice because I don't remember that at all."

Sasuke grunts in affirmation, not wanting to jinx the possibility that she believed his white lie.

"I'll pick you up again tomorrow… Sakura. If you want."

Sasuke couldn't help but stare at how cute Sakura - his girlfriend - looked at the moment. She was blushing, while looking down at her lap.

"That's fine by me," Sakura says quietly. Sasuke, while pleased, did not express it outwardly.

"Alright then. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Sakura quickly attempted to get out of the car. "Thank you so much Sasuke," she exclaimed hurriedly.

As Sasuke drove off, he couldn't shake off the smile that was on his face, even though Sakura was back to just calling him Sasuke, meaning his earlier theory on her calling him Sasuke-kun was right.

In fact, his smile lasted throughout dinner with his family. Concerned, his mother asked, "Sasuke-kun? Is everything alright?"

"Aa. I'm just remembering how nice it felt to spend time with my girlfriend today. Thank you for the meal. If you'll excuse me, I have homework to finish."

He was so caught up in the improvement in his and Sakura's relationship, that he missed the shocked, yet happy, faces on his mom and brother.

Sasuke felt like he was on top of the world, not that anyone would notice thanks to his face being devoid of emotions, throughout the next few weeks. He had managed to have a daily routine of picking up and dropping Sakura off. But during classes, he would intertwine their fingers as they walked to their lockers. He only smirked in an arrogant way when he would look at the jealous boys that thought they had a chance with Sakura before he swooped in.

Exactly seventeen days after they had started going out, Sakura kissed him on the cheek before she left for volleyball practice. Sasuke dreamed about that kiss, even though she may have deemed it inconsequential, that night and couldn't help but wonder what her lips would feel like.

The only reason Sakura kissed Sasuke on the cheek before volleyball practice is because she missed him. Seventeen days into their relationship, and she missed him. Not in the sense that she never wanted to part with him - although that too was how she felt - but more so in the way that she knew he wasn't really a part of the relationship. Despite her initial opinion that maybe - just maybe - Sasuke meant it when he asked her to be his girlfriend, she couldn't shake off Naruto's words. He was using her.

Sakura also couldn't help but to think that her situation was unfair. While Sasuke was only making her fall even more in love with him, she was sure there was no place for her in his heart.

Ino's constant telling her that the way Sasuke looked at her was true love didn't help her feel any better. She only wished he loved her to any capacity.

Sooner or later, Sakura knew she would have to end this game she was playing before her heart was shattered into a million pieces. A game she knew she would inevitably lose. She was getting close to the point of no return and all she had to show was an increasing silent love for Sasuke - something she didn't know was possible. She had wanted to make him fall in love with her and then break up with him, but now… she knew she didn't have it in her.

That is why, when Sasuke told her his parents wanted to meet her, two months into their relationship, a thousand alarms flashed in her head. Her head told her that this could have possibly been the final nail in the coffin that was her relationship with Sasuke. Her heart, on the other hand, told her that this might mean that Sasuke actually liked her, and that maybe he was in the relationship. With her. And Sakura was always one to listen to her heart.

"Sakura… my parents wanted to know if… uh… you would maybe like to have dinner with them this weekend?"

"I would love to, Sasuke!"

I would love to Sasuke!

The way she said that with a smile on her face was engraved in his mind. He had no idea why he was so nervous about asking her to meet his parents. He spent the whole day worrying if they were moving too fast. If she would say no. If maybe he had misread all her smiles… all the looks of awe she gave him.

Two months into their relationship, and Sasuke could not be happier. Her smile was enough to brighten his day, and if he were being honest with himself, he thinks he may just love her. Actually no, he knows he loves her, and he is fully willing to admit that to himself. She is everything he could have possibly hoped for. And more. He just needed to work on showing her exactly how he felt about her. It was worth it. She was worth it.

The weekend came, and he was a bundle of nerves, not that he would ever tell anyone. He just wanted his parents to love her as much as he did. Granted, he knew she would charm them anyway. And charm them she did.

When Sasuke had gone to pick Sakura up, he realized he had never actually met her parents. She would always say her farewells from the car, never actually giving him a chance to walk her to the door. He knocked on the door, greeting her mother when she opened the door.

"Hello, Haruno-san."

"Oh, you must be Sasuke-kun! Sakura has told us so much about you. She also said you were very handsome, but I never realized you were this handsome! I wonder what she must have done to be so lucky!"

He couldn't help but smirk internally, Sakura thought he was very handsome… huh. Truth be told, however, Sasuke believed he was the lucky one to have a goddess such as Sakura date him. He felt even luckier when she walked down to the steps in a black, plaid sleeveless dress over a white long-sleeved shirt. Her long hair was pulled to her side, exposing her neck. An image that caused Sasuke's heart to beat faster than ever before. How was she so effortlessly beautiful?

"You look beautiful, Sakura," he said, smiling at the blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Oh stop it, Sasuke-kun… thank you," she said with a soft smile.

He reached out his right hand so that she could grab it with her left. He loved having her on his right side, so that his dominant hand could protect her, should anything ever happen. But he would never tell her that. His favorite thing to do with her hand, though, was to intertwine their fingers.

"Bye mom," Sakura said as they were walking back to his car.

"It was nice to meet you Haruno-san, hopefully we'll be able to spend more time together and get to know each other better soon."

All Sakura really had to do, once they were at his house, was smile at his family and they were swept away. In no time, Sasuke knew they would like her almost as much as he did. He would always be the one that loves her the most, after all.

Which is why, when they were in front of her house, staring at each other, and her eyes glanced at his lips, he took a leap of faith and kissed her on the lips. And gods, was it worth it.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the feel of Sasuke's lips on hers out of her mind.

Why would he do that?

Recently, Sakura had begun to find it harder and harder to differentiate between the real and the fantasy in her relationship with Sasuke. The kiss he gave her last weekend was the first of many. Kisses snuck in between classes. Sakura almost felt desire in his kisses… love.

Sakura wasn't too sure how much more she could take before she began to wholeheartedly believe that this relationship was real. She wanted it so badly, her heart was telling her to continue with it. But, at the end of the day, she was in this mess because she wanted to listen to her heart instead of her brain. And Sakura was not a dumb girl by any means.

When she woke up the next morning, she had her heart set on what was right. It was better for her if she broke this off before he did… because if he did end up finding someone he loved, he would break up with her anyway. Why not spare her heart before she became too entangled in his lies?

When he kissed her that morning in the car, she almost faltered. Almost.

Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard, she knew Sasuke could hear it. His right hand rubbing soothing circles on her left was doing the opposite. When they pulled into the school parking lot, he let go of her hand, no doubt on his way to go around and open the door for her.

"Sakura," he asks quietly, "You've been quiet all morning. Are you okay?"

So he was still in the car.

"Sasuke-kun… Sasuke… you know these past few months have been amazing for me, right?"

"Ah… for me too."

"But… I can't do this anymore. We need to break up. I love you."

We need to break up. I love you. We need to break up I love you. I love you. I love you.

If he had only said it back, would she have stayed with him? Would she have walked through those doors with him? Why did she do this? Why?

When she walked out of the car and softly closed the door, he could only watch her walk up the stairs. Watch her look back at him. He did the only thing he could think of when she walked through those doors. He drove away.

And now he was back, right before the day ended. Waiting for her. He needed some answers. Maybe he misunderstood what she meant? Maybe he was stupid to think that because she never initiated contact -

But when he saw her again, he could only think of her. Sakura. His love. He walked out of his car, and marched right to her. He grabbed her arm, firmly yet gently, and steered her to a secluded part of the schoolyard.

"Sasuke… what…? What are you-," she asked, confused.

"I need some answers, and I was worried if I gave you too much time or space to think you would refuse to answer them… or see me."

"I guess I owe you that much…"

"Why did you break up with me?"

"Because I know you weren't really into me… into this relationship…"

What? "Why would you think that?"

"That first day you asked me out… I overheard you and Naruto," she says after a pause that teetered on being uncomfortably long. "You were talking about how you were only pretending to date me to get your parents to stop setting you up on dates. I know you've always thought of me as annoying… but I have liked you for a very long time, ever since we were much younger. Part of me hoped you would love me enough that this would become real to you too."

Sasuke had so many things to say, but he wanted to hear everything she needed to say first. Already, he felt much lighter, a little giddy. This was all a misunderstanding.

"But I kept falling more and more in love with you… to the point where I felt like I might burst! I meant it when I said these last two months have been amazing. I hope they were amazing for you, too. But, I don't know how much longer I could pretend that it didn't hurt that you didn't feel the same. I was worried you would find someone you actually loved and would leave me, and so I thought why not get all the heartache out of the way now, before I could never move on from you and had to never see you again, and-"

Sasuke broke her train of thought with a slow, passionate kiss. Gods, this woman did not realize her effect on him. He, too, needed to set the record straight.

"I'm gonna tell you my side of the story," he said once they broke apart, foreheads resting on each other.

"That day, I heard Sasori say that he wanted to ask you out. I felt so jealous thinking of the both of you together. While I called you annoying, I only ever meant in the way you made me feel. I couldn't describe it any other way because you always made me feel off kilter. And I don't like not being in control of my emotions or actions. I asked you out."

Her eyes held a glimmer of hope, and gods he loved her.

"When I could barely contain my smiles that day, I realized how much I already liked you. I'm not sure how much you overheard that day, but I did like you. I had already started liking you long before I asked you out. But now, I love you, too. Sakura... Will you please be my girlfriend again, without any conditions this time?"

She nods before leaning in, their lips a breath's width apart, and for the first time, initiating a kiss.

"I want you to kiss me like I'm the only man you're ever gonna love. From now until forever, as if there's no tomorrow," Sasuke says quietly, eager.

Sakura giggles, and says, "Gladly, and I'll make sure to never stop," before finally leaning in. Gods, he loves these kisses. And maybe, he liked their kisses even more when she was the one who leaned in first.