I don't own Naruto. Beware of long sentences and many adjectives and lots of repetition, but in a good way.

Next Time

The first time Uchiha Sasuke sees Haruno Sakura, he is seven years old. It is the annual cherry blossom festival in Konoha and his mother made him dress in a yakuta with a little uchiwa fan on neck. He feels proud because it looks just like his father's and his father is big and strong and respected and everything Sasuke hopes he can be when he grows up. As he races through the legs of the old people in the crowd, a happy grin takes over his face. Even though he doesn't usually like coming to festivals, tonight is perfect because his brother – the man he admires perhaps even more than his father – is with him.

They are standing by the little stall and Itachi is going to win a goldfish for him when he hears something like the tinkling of bells, only lighter. He twists around in search of the source. Instead locating a small, ringing object, Sasuke finds a little girl. From the moment he takes in her soft, soft pink hair, pretty, pretty green eyes, and bright, bright smile, he knows that this is the girl he could fall in love with someday.

But he is only a seven-year-old child and he knows that all girls, except his mother, have cooties and can therefore not be trusted. So he does the sensible thing and turns away from the girl. But as he prepares to return home, Sasuke can't help but steal a glance at the little girl and hope that next time, he will find out what her name is.

The next time Uchiha Sasuke sees Haruno Sakura, he is thirteen. It is a cool summer night and clouds obscure the moon as his sandals click lightly on cobblestone paths. He is wearing a navy blue shirt and white shorts and his hands are buried inside the depths of his pockets. He knows that he has been far too lucky thus far since he hasn't run into anyone and has the gut-feeling that his escape from the village will not go as smoothly as it has already.

His suspicions are proven correct when the small form of a girl steps out from the shadows, directly into his walking path. Sasuke ignores the girl who is on his team and instead forges a new path around her unmoving body. He knows it is only a matter of time before she opens the large mouth of hers and tries to say something that will change his mind. He continues to walk but his shoulders tense in anticipation and his fists clench even tighter.

The moon comes out from hiding the moment she opens her mouth. She babbles on about teammates and friendship and memories and Kakashi-sensei and Naruto and having fun together. Her voice quivers and, for sure, she will be crying soon. Sasuke does not run, though he could if he really wanted to. Though his back is turned to this blathering girl, her words make him remember a time when life wasn't all about avenging and smiles came easily and happiness wasn't a foreign concept.

As she screams that she loves him with all of her heart, he finally turns to look at her. With his head cocked at an angle and the moonlight shining through the clouds, Sasuke finally sees more than the clingy teammate he has had to put up with. He sees a little girl with soft hair and pretty eyes and the brightest smile, and he is instantly reminded that this is the girl he might willdefinitelysomeday fall in love with.

But Sasuke has other priorities and love and pretty girls with soft hair and smiles are not part of that list right now. He uses his incredible speed to get behind her and watches as her shoulders tense and her head bows. He is suddenly tempted to confess about his almost-love, but knows that this is neither the time nor the place to do so. So he mutters a cryptic phrase and hopes that the remnants of the girl will be able to understand what he truly means. As he gets up to continue walking towards the gates of the village, he steals a last glance at the girl and hopes that there will never have to be a next time for this goodbye.

The next time Uchiha Sasuke sees Haruno Sakura, he is eighteen years old. It is a frigid winter morning and each breath he takes is more painful than the last. His is wearing a torn white shirt and stained black pants and every fiber of his body screams that it is tired. He can feel that he is on his feet, but is more being carried than actually walking towards the gates of a once-familiar village.

A crowd appears to be waiting for his party just inside the gates and he can feel the nervous energy coming from everyone. The hand supporting him tightens and he hears his best friend's voice mumbling a string of profanities mixed with reassurances that everything will be okay. Sasuke doesn't have the energy to retort because his eyes hurt and his arms hurt and his legs hurt and everything hurts but at the same time, he has never felt as whole as he does when he spots Sakura running towards him. The moment her fingers graze his cheek, he knows that he is safe and promptly passes out.

When he wakes up, his shoulders are stiff and his neck is in a brace and every muscle aches. Sasuke takes into account that he is in a hospital bed and that a pair of pretty, pretty green eyes are watching him from a chair and that soft, soft pink hair tickles his skin as she leans over to check on him. He watches as her fingers flit over his injuries and feels as warm chakra pours into his body and makes everything hurt just a little bit less.

They aren't talking and he knows that he should say something but he he's too focused on memorizing everything about the familiar yet entirely different girl in front of him. She pulls away from him and her eyes are smiling and her lips are smiling and her heart must be smiling as well. Sasuke suddenly has the urge to kiss the softprettybright girl that he might be definitelyalwayshasbeen falling in love with.

But he doesn't think it's the right time because even though her healing hands have made him feel better, he knows there is a still long way to go before they can be something. Instead, he braves the gap between then in order to lightly clasp her hand in his much larger one for a second before quickly releasing her fingers. Her smile becomes even brighter if it's possible and she begins to chat idly and Sasuke hopes that next time, he will be brave enough to hold her for much, much longer.

The next time Uchiha Sasuke sees Haruno Sakura, he is nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, and twenty-two. He wears a navy blue shirt and grey pants and a Konoha forehead protector. The seasons change from scorching summers to frosty winters but the weather doesn't matter because Sasuke is always warm. He is back in Konoha and even though he doesn't have a particular attachment to the village itself, he is forever bonded to the people that inhabit it. The loud, obnoxious, incredibly loyal future Hokage; the lazy, quiet, mellow, constantly-late mentor; and the girl who is also strong and fierce and talented and all-around amazing have become the center of his world.

They go on missions and protect the village and slowly the people in the streets stop whispering and gossiping and looking at him with suspicious eyes. Sasuke excels through the ranks of shinobi until he is prepared to enter into the ANBU. He does not particularly care about the title or the pay raise that will come with it, but he knows that the more threats he can eliminate, the better he can protect his precious people.

He goes out to dinner with his best friends at least twice a week and eats ramen and actually listens as the blonde rambles on about mundane topics like all the food he tried on his last solo mission and how much he loves this ramen. He trains with his team and concentrates on the softprettybright girl as she talks about her work in the hospital and also takes note of how her tiny fists can destroy mountains but also manage to fix every little scratch on their bodies.

As the years pass and he stays in the company of his friends and acquaintances and precious people, he realizes that he is falling and falling and falling for a girl with soft hair, pretty eyes, and the brightest smile he knows.

They go out to celebrate his twenty-third birthday and even though he doesn't like the big parties and all the noise, he appreciates the effort. Music with a heavy bass plays in the background and people are laughing and drinking and having fun but all Sasuke cares about is the absence of one particular person. The girl has been out on a solo mission for the last week and was due back the day before but had yet to make an appearance.

His eyes flit to the entrance of the restaurant and his heart feels as if it has literally stopped when he sees her. Her soft, soft hair is piled atop her head in an elegant, sweeping bun. Her pretty, pretty eyes are highlighted by light makeup and seem almost hypnotizing. Her smile is so bright it lights up the room as she makes eye-contact with him. She is dressed in a simple white halter dress and Sasuke briefly wonders if he is just dreaming. But she moves until she is standing in front of him and Sasuke can smell her perfume and feel her body heat and knows that he has the real thing. She laughs and smiles and whispers "happy birthday" and he holds her gently and they dance for the remainder of the party.

He walks her home that night and sneaks a look over his shoulder as she fumbles with her keys. Sasuke hopes that the next time she wears a white dress and they dance, it will be a much bigger occasion than a mere birthday.

The last time Uchiha Sasuke sees Haruno Sakura, he is twenty-four years old. It is a mild autumn day and a cool breeze causes his dark hair to swirl around his face and the air brings the stench of death with it. He is wearing a standard issue jounin uniform stained with blood and a Konoha forehead protector with a scratch down the leaf insignia. The battle has been raging on for days and weeks and months and so much has happened that Sasuke doesn't even know what day it is or why they are even fighting anymore.

His feet drag as he walks down a path covered with the corpses of shinobi and civilians alike and the image has ceased to be a novelty. He barely glances down at the people until he notices something that roots him to the spot and makes his veins run with ice. Pink hair is attached to a body lying in a large pool of crimson and limbs are bent at angles which do not exist in nature. He realizes this is Sakura, thegirl who is never supposed to be hurt of injured or so broken, ever.

Her soft, soft waytoosofttobenatural hair begins as light pink at her roots but slowly turns scarlet and he doesn't look too closely because he already knows it's her blood that clings to it. He crumples to his knees and her pretty, pretty howcantheybesopretty eyes slowly open and the pain is so evident. Sasuke tries to control his body, but his fingers are shaking and his throat is swollen and his eyes itch with tears that are dying to be shed. Her lips tug into a smile, not the bright, bright itcanblindyouinstantly smile, but instead a smile of a haunted girl who is too good to have seen and been through the life of a warrior.

She doesn't try to sugar-coat anything or pretend like nothing bad will happen. Instead, she reaches out to him, despite how must cause her body to scream in protest, until her fingers rest on his cheek. Sasuke finds himself leaning into her touch as she murmurs, "I'm dying, Sasuke-kun," and it's all he can do to stop himself from gripping her shoulders and shaking her until she realizes that, no, she's not dying because he won't allow it. But Sasuke is anything but impractical and he can see how much blood she's lost and how she has no chakra left and how her heart strains to keep a regular beat while her chest barely rises for air. Her pretty, pretty eyes beg him to do something and he knows what it is without her having to vocalize it but he hesitates. But at the sight of the single tear rolling down her dirtied cheek, he knows he cannot deny her of this one last thing.

Uchiha Sasuke is twenty-four when he realizes that, really, it's ironic that he will be the one to kill the girl he had fallen in love with.

He does not waste time with trying to convince her that there is a way out because he knows there is nothing anyone can do about this. His kantana is draw and he only pauses to take in the last image of the girl in front of him. He presses his forehead against hers as he plunges the sword into her chest, hitting her heart with deadly accuracy. She coughs and her body registers the pain, yet she still manages to give him one of her bright, bright smiles. "Sasuke-kun… Thank you," she whispers before her pretty, pretty eyes lose their light. Sasuke does not steal a glance at the corpse of the once-girl, and instead promises that in the next life, he will be able to protect and save and most of all, love Haruno Sakura.

Guys, I think I just made myself die; I wrote all of this in less than six hours. In other news, I am leaving on Monday and won't have access to fanfic for at least six weeks. Dude, what am I going to do without my smut?

Questions, comments, critiques, declarations of undying love? Leave them in a review!