naruto oneshots

exile

pairing: minor sasuke x naruto, past sasuke x sakura
type: angst
setting: konoha
era: between ages twenty two and twenty three

summary: naruto is not sakura's understudy.

a/n: this is probably my favorite oneshot from my folklore oneshots book, so I'm posting it here too :)

xxx

sakura's pov

i can see sasuke standing with naruto's arms around his body. he has been smiling more than he ever did with me, but naruto's jokes are never funny.

it only took him five minutes to pack us up and send me off, but the love and emotion never got shipped. it's as if he only left because he didn't love me enough.

i hear someone talking about sasuke like he's an item. "hey," i yell and swing around, throwing a punch at him, "he is so much more than that!"

everyone else at the party turns to look at me. i display a petrified expression from embarrassment. people whisper behind their hands and a moment later, ino leads me to a hallway. "sakura," she whispers into my ear over the music, "why are you defending him? he ditched you."

i stare at her before looking at the ground and shrugging. "i don't know... i just did and i didn't think. is there a problem?" she stares at me like i'm an idiot. "of course there is! he abandoned you! you can't keep going back to a bad relationship that never was gonna work out!"

"well, i'm still in love with him!" i smack her hand away from my shoulder. "i'm angry that he moved on so quick because i'm still in love with him! the breakup was not mutual and i didn't want it to end!" ino stares at me with confused eyes.

"i'm just confused!" i sob, feeling tears stream down my cheeks. "i'm jealous because of naruto! i've loved sasuke for my entire life, so why does he get to ruin this for me!? this is the one thing i wanted! he has everything and always has!"

our relationship was long term. it's difficult to shift from being close lovers to being in exile. i can't return what we had and am struggling so much because i just can't move on!

sasuke's pov

earlier, ino lead sakura back in and she's been sneaking glances at us for a while now. it's getting annoying because i can constantly feel her eyes on us and it frustrates me because naruto is not her understudy. he is not the rebound for our relationship. i've given her plenty of chances and it's unfair of her to miss me now that i'm moving on. it only adds insult to injury.

just then, she almost got her knuckles bloody for me, which was pointless and plain stupid.

we've fought about the ambiguity of what truly happened between us, so a part of me expected this outcome.

i didn't like the ending of it. i didn't like the demise of our relationship and i don't like how she's offended by me moving on.

i, too, felt like i was leaving the familiarity of what was once a comforting relationship, never to return. it hurt me, too, but when you're out of love with someone, you don't fall back in love.

i was probably just lonely, not in love. i wish i could apologize for, in short, using her.

one month earlier
third person pov

there is no amount of crying sakura could do for sasuke. she was heartbroken and wanted another chance. "you never listened to what i was trying to say!" she argued. "i feel the same way," sasuke replied.

they always walked a very thin line. "you didn't even hear me out," sakura cried. "you never gave a warning sign!" she yelled as sasuke said, "i gave so many signs!"

they agree that they couldn't save the relationship. while sakura believes it was because he never opened up to her about how he was feeling, sasuke believes it was because she wasn't paying attention when he tried to show her his heart.

often when relationships end, the people involved have very different ideas of who was at fault. emotions are complex, and real life isn't black and white. a relationship may end, but the feelings take much longer to fade. a relationship may wither, but it may be unclear why.

"you need to have grace for him in this situation," ino reasoned and wiped sakura's tears. "compassion and empathy can lead to understanding in growth. you just don't know his side of the story."

sakura nods but stays silent. maybe they weren't meant to be, but that doesn't mean she will be able to immediately accept that she's better off without him.

xxx

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