"We're far from the road, Naruto," she said, exasperated. "What do you want?"
He did not grin his usual fox grin, and this unsettled her. His whiskers were not comical today, for some vague and ominous reason (they reminded her of knife nicks she had seen carved into stone faces). She looked to him for a notion, a reassurance—found none but the expression of the grave.
"Naruto?" She bit her lip.
He looked to her with his burning gaze.
"Sakura," he said. She felt uneasy from the way he said her name; so headily, and without the suffix. The '–chan' made things cheerful and safe, and without it—
"Sakura," he said again, and she knew he was searching for the right words to use so as not to scare her too much. She felt her stomach churn.
"Yes, Naruto?" she said, forcing cheer into there. She was still hopeful.
"Sakura," he said for the third time (three isn't always the magic number), "There's something I—I've gotta tell you."
His eyes were too blue for her; they were too deep and intoxicating. She did not want them this way. She noticed how he clenched his hands at his sides as he spoke.
"You know that—you know that I've liked you for a long time."
She wanted to scream.
Naruto, this isn't the time, she cried, there'll never be a time for this. This can't happen, Naruto, it just can't.
He went on. "I've liked you for a long time, but—"
He spoke with his brow intently furrowed. "But there's more than just liking in it now. It's more than just a—just a crush, you know? Something—stronger."
She wanted to cry.
Shut up, Naruto, she screamed silently.
"I know you—you probably don't feel the same thing that I do for you," he said. (She could see how this pained him when he said it.) "And I bet you still love that bastard Sasuke, but…"
Stop it, she said.
"But—"he started again. "But maybe—maybe you could give me a chance. Maybe you could try to understand. Maybe…maybe you could try to love me."
But I already do, she screamed, just not in that way. Never in that way, please. I don't want that way with you. You are too beautiful for me, Naruto.
She stood and would not say a word to him for the longest while. He stood watching her and did not move. If truth were reality, he was on his knees and she was kissing him.
Reality is not truth.
Kay, you know as much as I do.