Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own Naruto. I wish I did so I can make Sasuke and Sakura end up together. :D

Sore ga ai Deshou

By theClosetPoet7

Summary: Sakura had always known that Uchiha Sasuke was far from her reach. Yet, she had extended her arms and opened up her heart to him even if it meant that he had the power to take it into his hands and crush it. Post-War. SasuSaku

"What if life hands you an apple, dangles it in front of you, gives you a little taste, tempts you with it then tells you that you can't have it. Under these circumstances, would you still reach out to the forbidden fruit?" - theClosetPoet7

Chapter One

Break the Spell

Sasuke-kun is back.

In the final fight between Madara and Naruto, he miraculously showed up and together as I knew they would, both my teammates joined forces and defeated the ancient Uchiha. And as always, I watched at the sidelines. I felt the intense fear of losing them, and I felt the burning hope that they will somehow come out victorious.

"Our story will not have a sad ending." That is what I kept telling myself. Our story will not have a sad ending.

Though I've always known that I would never be able to stand equally with them, I wasn't completely useless. I was their back-up, healing various wounds that could've been fatal, breaking grounds to assist them, and throwing punches at various Zetsus that came at me. I stood and watched as they delivered the final blow, and I was right by their side the moment their bodies decided they were too tired to stand and had shut down altogether. I was quick to go to their side, summoning the last bit of chakra I had left and tried with all my might to stabilize them.

I was successful. We were successful.

The war was over. We had won. Madara was finally gone. We've claimed our right to live in this world of ninjas. It was thrilling and oh so satisfying. The fields were filled with triumphant shouts and happy tears as teammates patted each other's' backs and loved ones reunited. You can see the intense happiness they felt when they saw each other's faces. I was one of them; it was too good to be true, being reunited with Team 7. Having all of them alive and just breathing was enough to bring tears of joy to my face. And when both my boys regained consciousness and finally looked to me, my heart swelled.

Naruto had this wide grin that reminded me of how I'll always rely on him.

Sasuke-kun had this look of serenity on his face that was much too beautiful to describe.

Kakashi-sensei unfortunately thought it was the right time to take out his Icha-Icha Paradise book and

Sai had a look of relief as he sat down and rested his back against a tree.

I laughed, pumped my fists up and yelled out

"Shannaro!"

I've always had various scenarios in my head depicting how my next meeting with Sasuke-kun would go. One of them involved me helplessly throwing my arms around him and saying "Welcome Home". Another one entailed me to punch the daylights out of him for the pain he has caused us these past few years. What I didn't expect though was his immediate apology for everything he had done and me awkwardly smiling and accepting it. Of course, Naruto was quick to accept his apology while Kakashi-sensei opted to just ruffling his hair and saying,

"I understand."

Suddenly everything was the way it was supposed to be. Team Seven was complete.

Eight months later

Konoha was on the verge of full recovery. Under Tsunade's rule the village was quick to work on the damage caused by the war. Everyone was in high spirits as the hope that this world will be alright had spread out. The people were looking to their leader to pave the way to the better tomorrow. It was tiresome and just plain boring to Tsunade. How she longed to go to a bar, drink her worries away and gamble. As Hokage, she knew that was out of the question, not when she had too many responsibilities. Just a bit more, she always said to herself. She knew that the time has almost come for her to choose her successor. She didn't need to think much about the person who will be replacing her, after all, he had displayed an enormous amount of skill during the war and she knew from previous records that he had and has been a great asset to the village.

Yes, Konoha will be safe in the hands of Hatake Kakashi.

"Tsunade-sama." a voice she had known all too well called out.

"What is it Sakura?"

Sakura raised her eyebrows as she observed her master. She shook her head as she saw that the hokage had a cup of sake in her hand, a dry and wrinkly hand. She sighed. Tsunade was getting old. And she was dying. The war had taken a toll on her. She used up all her reserved chakra and had sustained a great deal of damage internally. After all, with the experience of being cut in half, who would expect anyone to fully recover? But that wasn't the cause of her morbid condition. Her kidneys were failing. Instead of using up her chakra to maintain her youthful appearance she decided to put all her energy into keeping herself alive and fulfilling her duties as the Hokage, her final mission.

"You haven't taken your medication this morning." Sakura spoke softly.

"Hah, I've always known that with Shizune gone, you'll be the one to pester me." A look of sadness passed over the hokage's face as she remembered her first apprentice and how she was found dead on the field. It was such a waste. Shizune was the person she had always known would take care of her once she was on her deathbed. Nevertheless she took the medication and drank it. She looked to Sakura as she wiped the water out of her mouth. A smirk made its way to her lips and Sakura responded with a questioning look on her face.

"And you know you shouldn't be drinking." Sakura added

Tsunade barked out in laughter. She looked at her apprentice and a smile full of pride made itself known. Her apprentice had achieved so much at such a young age.

"You have time to reprimand an old woman when you have a hospital to take care of?" She said.

"Oh, right, they'll do without me for a few hours. Make sure to take the medications I have prepared for you Tsunade-sama. I've concocted some herbs that you can drink as a tea which may help. And again, stop drinking. You know how toxic that could be to your condition." Sakura instructed with a serious look on her face.

"Fine, fine, now stop focusing your energy on me Sakura. You know better than to waste your time on a lost cause." Sakura had a look of pure sorrow when she heard those words. But she was quick to recover from it. Tsunade felt the guilt immediately.

"Sorry, forget about what I just said. I would like to know the updates on the condition of the Uchiha's eyes". She shifted the topic.

Sakura had been placed in charge of studying the effects the Mangekyou had on Uchiha Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke had been complaining about his vision and Sakura had placed him on various sessions entailing her to study the condition of his nerves and his blood vessels. She had managed to heal most of the damage but it would take more time for her to fully bring his eyes to pre-Mangekyou status. The sessions were long and tedious but Sasuke had been patient and cooperative with her, only once in a while complaining that she took too much time off her work for him.

"I'll always have time for you Sasuke-kun." she had said. He had looked at her like she was crazy and shook his head.

"Hn." he replied.

Sakura sighed at the thought of Uchiha Sasuke. Their relationship didn't mend overnight but it had bothered her how often Sasuke tried to point out that she had much better things to do with her time. He was her teammate after all. Of course she would take some time off to watch over his condition. It had nothing to do with her feelings whatsoever…

Of course it didn't

Oh hell it did, it wasn't shocking to know that as soon as Sasuke was labeled as a friend again her feelings had resurfaced as if she never locked them inside a little box in her heart that said "Don't open unless you're a masochist now". It was hard to ignore the thumping of her heart against her rib cage whenever they were alone and she was healing his eyes. Sasuke was far too beautiful to be a man. He had the body of a shinobi, fit but not too muscular. His onyx eyes took you to places you only dream of. His voice sounded sexy that it sometimes spoke wicked things to her ear in her dreams. Once in a while she would let her own oculars slip down and look over his lips. Sasuke-kun looked like he had soft lips, she often wondered what they would feel like if she were to lean a bit further and….

She had to stop herself. Sasuke was her friend and she shouldn't be having such thoughts… thoughts of holding him... thoughts of kissing him… thoughts of…..

"Sakura?"

"They are improving. Sasuke-kun has been complaining of pain however and I'm still looking into it." She quickly recovered.

"Have you checked the blood supply to his eyes?" the Hokage questioned.

"Hai, there seems to be a bit of swelling at the back. I've made a decoction which might help ease the pain a little. I was on my way to delivering his medications when my instincts told me to see you firs.t"

"Ah, ever the intuitive one."

"Oh, and Naruto has been pestering me about whether or not he can come talk to you. He's still not very happy when you sent him a message saying that he would have to wait before he becomes hokage." Sakura wasn't surprised about this development. Naruto was still eighteen years old and far from being mature enough to be hokage. She smiled as she remembered when they went out to Ichiraku's to celebrate Kakashi's promotion.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, you're old and probably too perverted to become hokage. Why don't you step down immediately and give the position to me?" the blonde-haired loud mouth had asked. Sakura choked on her noodles and Sasuke cleared his throat.

"Naruto! You idiot, you should be happy for Kakashi-sensei, plus you're too young to become hokage." Sakura had pointed out

"Stupid dobe." Sasuke muttered

"But sensei doesn't really want to become hokage. I bet he'll be much happier ogling women and reading every piece of Ichi-Icha novel." Naruto said with a frown on his face

"That's where you're wrong Naruto." Kakashi had decided to interrupt their little squabble. "I do want to become hokage."

Sakura and Sasuke stopped eating and looked towards their sensei. He had never mentioned this before. They never knew he wanted to become hokage.

"I want to. For Rin and Obito." He added.

That was enough to silence the team. Kakashi had this look of seriousness on his face. And suddenly, their teacher looked much older than his age. As if he experienced far too much pain than most people did in their lifetime. Maybe losing Obito the second time made him rethink his life's goals.

Sakura frowned at the memory of seeing Obito finally pass. Unlike her, her sensei wasn't lucky enough to be able to reunite with his long lost teammate. That thought alone brought a wave of sadness to her mood.

"Tell Naruto to wait. He'll be hokage soon enough. Make sure to beat him up the next time he questions my decisions. And make it hurt." Sakura sweat dropped when her master spoke. Well, she didn't need to be told to beat up that idiot.

"What has been bothering you? Your mind seems to be elsewhere."

"Gomen shishou, I was just thinking about something. Nothing to worry about. I'll come by later to do your check-up." Sakura turned and left the office.

Tsunade reached for another cup.

"And no sake." Sakura poked her head in the office again.

"Hai, Hai." Tsunade replied.

Tsunade smiled and stretched her arms. She stood and went to her window and looked at her apprentice as she left the building. Sakura had blossomed into a fine, capable young medic. Most people might even say that she has surpassed the Fifth Hokage. Well not completely surpassed. There was still time. She was a great shinobi, proving herself time and time again on the battlefield. She was Konoha's best medic. Of course, Sakura was much too modest to ever agree with those claims. However, she wasn't stupid as to not acknowledge her own strength. Tsunade felt her heart warm up. Haruno Sakura was her legacy to this world. She smiled as she saw her pink-haired apprentice stoop down to talk to a crying child.

Yes. Konaha will be in safe hands.

"They say that hope over an unrequited love is the most painful kind of hope. Even if you were once clearly rejected, you take out memory after memory to prove that you were once special even when you weren't." - theClosetPoet7

Sakura had always known that Sasuke was a private person. Most of their sessions took place in his living room only and he never invited her to go any further than that. So when she decided to open the door to his apartment anyway she was nervous. She had been knocking for about two minutes and nobody had come. The jar with his medicine needed to be left at room temperature and who knows, someone might try to steal it in this neighborhood if she left them outside his door. Anyway weren't teammates supposed to have privileges?

She entered the dark halls. 'Tsk' she thought to herself.

'Why did Sasuke have to have a gloomy home?'

As she made her way to the kitchen and placed the jar on the counter she decided that the next time she'll see her teammate she will insist on helping with interior decorating. A smile made its way to her lips when she saw the picture of Team Seven on a desk at his living room.

"He's home." she sighed.

While she searched his apartment for a note to leave on her delivered goods, her keen senses told her that someone was in the house. She was surprised to hear that he was home after all. She turned her attention to his bedroom and made a mental note to improve her hearing abilities.

"Sasuke-kun?" she called out.

No answer.

'It's not like him to not hear me come in.'

She slowly made her way towards his room. What was he doing anyway? It was already nine am, he couldn't possibly be just getting up. Sasuke was an early riser, by this time he was probably already up and about, maybe walking around the village or training with Naruto.

Her thoughts went back to when she was greeted at her office the other day with the sight of both her teammates bleeding with a bunch of broken bones.

"Sakura-chan, we need you..." Naruto had whined.

"Hn." Sasuke added

She had spent her first hour that morning healing their wounds and mending their broken limbs.

"I shouldn't be wasting my chakra on a bunch of idiots who think that beating each other up is the best kind of training." she had complained

"But Sakura-chan, it wouldn't really be training if we didn't take it seriously plus it wouldn't be considered a battle if we didn't have battle scars." Naruto had replied with the biggest idiotic grin he had.

"Well, the next time you want to have battle scars then you should come to me and I'll personally guarantee that you'll have one." Sakura had cracked her knuckles and Naruto instantly paled as he remembered how painful her punches could be. She would heal him afterwards yes, but they had hurt like hell.

"Sasuke-kun, have your eyes been giving you any trouble lately? I hope you didn't use them today." Sakura turned her attention to the dark-haired Uchiha who hadn't spoken a word during her exchange with Naruto.

"I didn't."

"Good, I'm working on a decoction that might help in easing the pain you've told me about during our previous session, I'll bring it to you once it's finished." she said

"Hah! Teme, you've been complaining about some pain? Has Sakura-chan been babying you too much?" Naruto spoke in a teasing tone.

"Shut up dobe." the stoic ninja muttered under his breath

Sakura had smiled weakly and proceeded to calming down her teammates before they decided to engage in another rough ramble. After all she didn't want to waste anymore chakra then she already had.

She smiled at the memory but shook her head. She seemed to be daydreaming too much nowadays.

She focused her attention on the task at hand. Wasn't she just looking for Sasuke?

She headed for the direction of his room. As her steps came closer to his room, a sense of impending doom washed over her. Something didn't seem right. Her heart clenched as she made her way closer,

Closer…

and the sounds became clearer.

Much much clearer

….and she realized what was happening on the other side of that door.

Bed creaking.

A grunt.

"Sasuke-kun?" she called out again.

That's when she heard it.

A moan.

Then another grunt.

"Sasuke-kun…" A woman's voice.

Her eyes widened.

Another moan.

"Ahn… "

Sakura stood frozen in place. She didn't know that Sasuke engaged in such activities. She was shocked that he would even allow himself to get close enough to a woman let alone be having sex. He was having sex. The thought alone seemed foreign to her. And her heart clenched again.

She had to stop herself when she felt a wave of jealousy. He was simply human, of course he would respond to his urges once in a while. What was she thinking anyway, that he would suddenly have feelings for her? That he would, that he would… at least think of her first when he decided to make human contact?

'Yes, I've always thought that I was at least the only woman who was close to him.' she answered her own question.

She heard another moan and she instantly blushed. Whoever was inside that room seemed to be enjoying herself. Sakura let out the breath she didn't know she was holding. What was she doing? Shouldn't she just leave? It wasn't like Sasuke was her… was her...

She felt herself tear up. Her eyes shifted to the ground as she heard what could have been the climax. 'Don't you dare Haruno,' she told herself. Her heart suddenly felt numb.

After a minute or two, a shift on the flooring suddenly caught her attention as she heard footsteps make their way towards her direction. Her instincts told her to run and never speak of this again but her feet stayed rooted to her spot as she decided that she wanted to know who this person was.

Who was beautiful and amazing enough to share Uchiha Sasuke's bed?

Was it Karin? That red-haired bitch had staked her claim as soon as she made eye contact with Sakura. Sakura however wasn't too worried because Sasuke obviously hadn't shown any interest. Had he finally given in to his teenage instincts?

Sakura shook her head. It couldn't possibly be Karin. Besides, that former rogue nin was on a mission. Who could it be then?

Her eyes stayed glued to the floor when as if in slow motion the door to Sasuke's room opened and she saw two dainty feet step out of the doorway.

'This is it Sakura.', she told herself. 'This is when your heart breaks. This is when you finally see that Uchiha Sasuke has always been out of your reach.'

"Sakura."

Her eyes shifted and what she saw broke her heart into a million pieces.

.

.

.

.

Long blonde hair

.

.

.

A body that could knock the socks out of any man

.

.

.

A face that was far too beautiful to be considered average.

.

.

.

"Ino."

"Ino-chan! I finally found someone I like! "

"Who?"

"Uchiha Sasuke."
.

.

.

"Ino, do you like Sasuke-kun?"

"Yes."

"Then this means we're rivals… "

.

.

.

"I'm sorry Sakura."

"You've found your way under my skin, and I'm trying not to love you but I hate the way I keep on giving into you like I always do… no matter how I try."

– Break the Spell by Daughtry

AN: Hi! So this is my first time writing a fic (Please be kind! :D ) I hope you'll like it. This story has been floating around in my head for a while now. In the manga, it was acknowledged that Ino still loves Sasuke and she is seldom used as the other woman so tada! :D This story is SasuSaku.

-Remastered-

Random Musings:

This story started out with the intention of adding a little spice to the SasuSaku fandom, specifically for me. (Aside from a way for me to entertain myself before falling asleep.) It sprouted out of my brain at a time when us fans were still clinging onto the hope that they would definitely get together even if there were a lot of near misses along the way. (Sasuke almost killing Sakura. Sakura questioning his presence in the war.) And it came out before Kaguya became the ultimate enemy. And before Naruto and Sasuke had that final battle. Honestly, there was a time that I wanted to change some parts of this story but decided to just let it be. It is just fiction, but I appreciate everyone who supported it. And I appreciate all the reviews. Even the spiteful ones.

This was my first time taking up the challenge of writing. And how difficult it was. First of all, you may have noticed, if you read through all that in one seating, that there is a change from using the past tense in narration to present. I wish I could edit all of it. But I don't think I can at this point.

Still though, I will read through everything again. And edit parts I want. And if you are here, reading it for the second time, then I would like to thank you again. Dear reader, you are absolutely awesome!