o.O.o

Third Wheel

o.O.o

As Sakura gazes at Naruto in the hospital after Kakashi brings his almost broken body back home to the Leaf Village, she sees first hand that she is not the only one greatly affected by Sasuke's betrayal. Naruto has just vowed to her that he will bring Sasuke home someday, that he won't give up until he does.

But it is not until years later, as Naruto and her are making love on the training grounds that she realizes that she was not the only one who loved Sasuke.

It is in the way Naruto touches her, in the way his fingers coax her to climax. She can see it in his eyes that Naruto is imaging that she was someone else, someone who was Naruto's equal in every way but heart.

It is while Naruto is making love to her though, as her head slams back into the grass maybe a little too hard as he takes her just a bit too gently, that she comes to another realization.

When Naruto first touched, first cupped her face and drew her to him, Sakura's heart began to pound so fast and hard in her chest that she thought she'd combust. Naruto had her panting with just a touch of his fingertips, had her moaning with just a kiss.

No, it is then that Sakura first realizes that she has fallen in love with Naruto. And even as he is with her, inside her, she finds it ironic that now that finally has grown to see the man Naruto has become and has truthfully always been, Naruto wants someone else, someone she once thought she wanted.

But after it is over, as they lay silently except for their hearts pounding away in their chests, Sakura thinks of every exchange between Sasuke and Naruto she ever witnessed. Their constant bickering, their incessant pigheadedness, the growth they experienced together. And finally, their acceptance of each other.

Sakura remembers it all, her eyes slamming shut with the thought that she'd never really had a chance with Naruto in the first place, never really had a chance with either of them.

Forever, it had only been Naruto and Sasuke. And no matter what happened, it always would be.

Later, after they have gone back to Naruto's apartment, Sakura clings to the man she has come to love more than life itself as he gently takes her. She knows that if she was Sasuke, Naruto would not be gentle and knows she would be left feeling fulfilled rather than empty.

And as Naruto climaxes, she hears his barely audible whisper of "Sasuke," and her heart breaks.