Haruno Sakura was many things; competent, resourceful, helpful, and independent. The one thing she's not? The pinkette was anything but patient and it seemed her patience was running thin when it came to a certain stoic wandering shinobi.
People in the village always seemed to ask her questions about him in the most inopportune times. She huffed softly thinking of the most interaction between herself and a shinobi coming in for a routine health check up.
"Okay! All seems well here. Are there any questions you have for me?" she asked with a soft smile.
The shinobi rubbed the back of his neck and nodded. "Are you and Sasuke going out?"
Sakura remembered her reaction vividly. All she did was smile again and replied with, "Now why would you ask me about that? But anyways, no, we're not." She tried to ask him about his health once again and as soon as he mentioned Sasuke, she just closed the file and stuck it under her arm. Sakura couldn't just leave abruptly, so she tried to not let her anger get the better of her.
"Well, if you don't have any questions regarding your health, I'll be leaving now. Feel free to come back in if you're experiencing any pain."
And with that, she took her leave.
The scene played out a few more times and Sakura just grumbled as she went to her favorite dessert parlor. If one thing can calm her down, it's sweets. She sat herself at her usual table and as soon as the owner saw her, he gave her a thumbs up. The pinkette knew exactly what that meant and grinned to herself. The owner was going to make her the usual and Sakura chuckled.
Finally, she could just relax and not let anyone bug- Sakura glanced over when she saw a familiar head of midnight blue hair. Once their eyes met, the medic waved her down to come join. "Hey, Hinata! What brings you by? Planning on getting some anmitsu to go?"
The Hyūga Princess nods slightly then rubs her hands together. "I'm… I'm hoping to get something for Naruto as well. He's been training with Kakashi-sensei for the Hokage role. I can see the hours he's putting in. I know he's almost there…" She smiled a bit at that then looked back to the medic in front of her. "I'm sorry..!"
Sakura couldn't help but giggle at Hinata, however she felt a pang of jealousy. Wait, jealousy? Why would she feel this way about Hinata and Naruto? They aren't even together! Sure, Sakura knows about Hinata's feelings for the stupid, yet handsome, blond, but even she wouldn't go so far as to date him. Right?
At least she thought she wouldn't be able to date him. The pinkette has known about his feelings for her since the Tenchi Bridge incident, thanks to Yamato-taichou. But when Pein attacked the village all those years ago, she knew about Hinata's feelings as well. Sakura paused her train of thought for a moment.
Does she actually like Naruto? No… does she actually LOVE him? She fell quiet, but her eyes looked to Hinata and studied the pale lavender irises. If she did, would this make Hinata and herself rivals for Naruto? Sakura wouldn't actually call it a rivalry seeing as Hinata couldn't actually talk to him. So if she did try to win his heart in return, which shouldn't be difficult, would Hinata fight back?
Finally, she spoke. "You're fine, don't worry about it." Sakura smiled faintly then pushed some of her pink hair behind her ear. "He does like sweets. I don't think there's a single one he doesn't like." A soft laugh broke through her lips. "He needs to eat his vegetables though.." Sakura trailed off then glanced back to Hinata, a faint blush appearing on her porcelain skin. "Hinata? What's up?"
"I just… I'm hoping I can actually talk to him today. Missions are easier to talk to him about, but this?" The Princess covered her face. "It's almost embarrassing how much I struggle with this, Sakura…!" She shifted her fingers so she could peek through them like a scared child. "You have it so easy though. Being able to talk to Sasuke-"
That struck a chord with Sakura. Once again, someone brought up Sasuke. Why was it always Sasuke? Her temple pulsed and she felt her jaw tighten up. Suddenly, she stood up and left money on the table. "I just remembered I had something to do with Tsunade-sama. You have a good day and uh… good luck with Naruto, I suppose."
Hinata felt like she did something terrible, for Sakura to get up and leave so abruptly. "I'm… I'm sorry, Sakura. I don't know what I said, but whatever it was, I didn't mean it. Honestly."
Her shy girl demeanor suddenly made Sakura feel uneasy. Naruto would be happy with her… Right? She quickly jumped off that train and mentally slapped herself for that remark. "It's fine, Hinata. I shouldn't keep Tsunade-sama waiting. Like I said, enjoy your day."
With that, Sakura finally left and just decided to head home instead of doing anything else. She had a lot to think about when it came to a certain blond.
xXx
A few short weeks later, Sakura found herself running into Hinata again. She was mostly over what happened at the dessert parlor so seeing the Hyūga Princess didn't want to make her walk the other way.
"Hinata, hi! What are you up to this fine afternoon? Haven't seen you recently." Sakura smiled, almost as warm as the sun. "How were things with Naruto a few weeks back?"
The midnight blue heiress just slumped slightly. Her hands rubbed together nervously once again. "I… I couldn't say anything to him. I just gave him the sweets and as soon as he asked what they were for, I panicked and ran off." Hinata sighed and wrapped her arms around her body protectively. "I still can't talk to him. How can I let him know how I feel?"
Sakura cautiously placed a hand onto Hinata's shoulder and then pulled her into a hug. A faint sigh escaped her lips and she couldn't believe what she's about to say next. "I can try and talk to him for you? See what's going on in that thick skull of his?"
Hinata pulled away, nodded, and smiled. "That would mean so much to me. Thank you, Sakura! Hopefully… this will be the start of something new."
xXx
After their interaction, Sakura and Hinata went their separate ways. Hinata, back to the Hyūga Compound, and Sakura, to find the idiot blond that's causing all of this trouble, despite him not knowing what's going on.
Her search came to an end when she found Naruto grocery shopping. Sakura couldn't help but smile at the sight of him doing something mundane like this. He's usually training or eating ramen. But this? This was downright domestic. She laughed then caught up to him. "Naruto! Hiya!" she beamed at the sight of him and gave him a cheeky wave. "Has Kakashi-sensei been training you every single day? I swear I haven't seen you much recently."
Naruto chuckled softly and rubbed the back of his neck with his bandaged hand. "Yeah… Training to be Hokage is no joke. I know I did the studies to become a Jonin, but shadowing Kakashi-sensei is so hard and boring sometimes, ya know?"
Sakura glanced up towards the tall blond and hummed gently. "It may be boring now, but it'll be worth it in the end. I know it will be. You'll become Hokage just like you always wanted!" She beamed then jabbed him gently with her elbow. "Anyways… I heard Hinata gave you some anmitsu?"
The blond rubbed the back of his neck and laughed nervously. "I guess? She came up to me while I was walking to the Hokage tower… then, she messed up her words, handed me the bag of anmitsu, and ran off." Naruto sighed then scratched at his cheek. "No matter what I do, she's still nervous around me and I haven't done a single thing to her."
She paused for a brief moment and studied Naruto as he spoke about Hinata. He doesn't seem to have feelings for her based on how he was describing her. However, she had to be sure. "Naruto?" Sakura started.
Naruto glanced back to the pinkette, brow raised. "Yeah? What's up?"
"Be honest. Do you like Hinata?"
He nodded and gave a faint smile. "Of course I like her-"
Sakura shook her head, her pink locks flowing around her, a segment of bangs falling and blocking the Byakugō seal on her forehead. "I don't mean, as a friend. I mean… like her like her. Like, do you want to be with her?"
A blush formed on Naruto's features as he stared at Sakura. He paused, trying to think, but his brain was going a million miles a second. How can she ask him that? Of course he does not like Hinata like that. They were only friends. However…
His silence almost made Sakura think the opposite.
"I see… So you do?"
"What? How did you come to that conclusion, Sakura-chan?" He threw his hands around in the air to try and stop Sakura's thought process. "I don't like her like that. I like someone else, but she likes someone else as well."
Sakura's head tilted at that. "What about Hinata's confession to you when Pein attacked the village?"
Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his neck again. "Things were happening so fast back then. I wanted to talk to her about it, but with everything going on, I never had a chance to tell her I don't have the same feelings."
Her heart started to beat faster. "Then, you should know how I feel about you, Naruto-"
He gave her a faint, yet fake, smile. "You don't have to. I know we're friends, Sakura-chan. I know you're waiting for Sasuke to come back. You don't have to worry about me, okay?"
After a moment of realizing what Naruto had said, Sakura glared at him. Why did he have to bring HIM up too? Why does everyone do that when she's around? Her hand tensed up into a fist. Her lips thinned into a straight line. If anyone was around, they'd notice the vein pulsing on her forehead.
Why does everyone assume she still loves him?!
"You… Not you too. Why… Why do you assume I still love Sasuke? Why are you assuming that I'm waiting for him?" She turned away from Naruto and tried her best to not pummel him right there and then. "After all we've been through, Naruto, you think I could still love him?" A shaky breath escaped her lips. "The feelings of the heart can change, Naruto," she choked out. "I don't know what I ever saw in him. I was relishing in his good looks and hoped he'd notice me."
She paused for a second and wiped a tear from her eyes. "I was hoping he'd always be there for me. But you know what, Naruto?" Another pause as she turned around to look squarely at his face. Her hand raised to caress his whiskered cheek. "You… You were always there for me, even if it hurt you…" Her gaze shifted over to his bandaged arm.
A weak laugh escaped her lips. "I'm so tired… SO tired of people assuming I still love him! Newsflash, I don't! And you know why? It's because I love you, Naruto!"
"Sakura-chan… Don't. Not again, please…" Naruto whispered as he leaned into her touch.
"What? Confess like I did in the Land of Iron? Naruto… There was some truth to what I said back then. While I wanted to protect you from everything and everyone… I truly did mean it… I did love you then and I still love you now."
Naruto's blue eyes stared at Sakura, studying to see if she was faking it again. He tried to sense if there was any disturbance to her chakra. Was it a genjutsu?
After realizing that nothing was wrong with her, Naruto couldn't help but hug her, his face buried into her shoulder. "You're not lying," he whispered.
"Of course not, you idiot… Why would I lie about something like this?" The pinkette rubbed his back gently to get him to relax.
"Thank you, Sakura-chan…" He gave her a gentle squeeze and pulled away slightly. "I… I love you." Naruto laughed at her smile and smiled right back.
xXx
A bit later into the day, Naruto and Sakura were walking to the training ground where Team 7 first met. Sakura sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "That… didn't go as expected. What are we going to tell Hinata?"
Her partner just shrugged slightly. "Tell the truth, I guess? I don't want to get her hopes up." He took Sakura's hand into his and squeezed gently. "I'll talk to her, don't worry."
"It's hard not to worry.. I don't want her to think that I just stole you from her."
Naruto laughed. "Hey, it's okay. You can't steal me from her when I wasn't hers to begin with."
Sakura gave Naruto a small smile and squeezed his hand in return. "I suppose you have a point there, Naruto." She then grinned. "Your fangirls are going to be very upset when they find out you're off the market for good."
He blushed and waved that comment off with his free hand. "Yeah, yeah. There's only one girl for me, and she's standing right here."