How We Used to Be, a naruto fanfic

I got this idea after listening to 'Used To' By Daughtry. Love that band, But listen to the music while reading it will make more sence.

'Thoughts'

'flashbacks'

"Lyrics"

I own nothing of this, except the plot, the song goes to its rightful owner as does Naruto.

How We Used To Be

The sun is shinning bright as if to make life seem easy as can be, kids are playing on the play grounds, parents watching. Couples walking or having a picnic. The sound of laughter spreads around, of the children and adults.

"Sasuke! Stop, I can't take it! Hahahahaha Okay you're not a dummy." A pink haired, green-eyed teenage girl's screaming was heard with laughter blended in. The teenage boy, with raven black hair and deep black eyes, stopped tickling the poor girl. The pink haired girl sat up smoothing out her white skirt.

"Why do you have to be so mean to me?" She whispered up against the boy's lips. Sasuke smirked, tilted his head down a little more, and said, " Because Sakura, you are mean to me." She slowly crawls to him and sits on his lap, to which he puts his hands around her hips.

"Only because I love you, Sasuke-kun." She whispered. The raven haired teen chuckled.

" And I'm mean, because I love you too." Just as they leaned in to share a chaste kiss, everything started blurring.

"Sakura!" Sasuke screamed throwing his hands out to reach for the disappearing girl. "Sakura! NO!"

Sweat beaded down Sasuke's forehead, neck and arms. He quickly sits up and looks at the clock.

"Damn, only three. Guess I'm staying up." He stood up, heading towards his private bathroom, there he looks in to the mirror at his reflection. He hair was a mess, he had bags under his eyes and looked like he was the walking dead.

"Brother, are you okay?" A voice rippled through out his bathroom. Sasuke turned to see his twenty year old brother staring at him. His long raven hair showed that he quickly threw it up, the shirt and pants proved it too.

"Yeah, Itachi. I'm okay." Sasuke said turning back to the mirror.

" Well certainly it doesn't seem like it. As you screamed her name for the ninth time tonight." Itachi said as he leaned against the wall. "Why don't you try talking to her? She still loves you as do you to her. Once you love someone, you never stop."

Sasuke shook his head, " She hates me. Just because of something I didn't do." He stopped looking at his reflection, and walked out of his bathroom.

Itachi's eyes followed his little brother's form. 'But that's where you made the mistake, little brother, if only you would have told her that first.' He thought.

" I'm going for a run. I'll be back later." Sasuke said while changing in to a pair of black shorts and a navy blue muscle shirt.

"Sasuke. It's three O'clock in the morning. You're not going for a run. Mother would not like that idea at all." Itachi said as he reach out grabbing his brother's shoulder, turning him to face him " There is other ways to deal with the thoughts, feelings and dreams. You can't keep doing this to yourself. Going to bed at midnight, waking up at three, going for runs, coming home hours later. Then of course on school days you go for runs until you have to get ready, then you just look like shit when going. The talent show is coming and you still haven't practice." Itachi's eyes steadily stayed on his brother's eyes, reading his emotions. " I know, you love her, but this is just unhealthy. Where's that brother of mine that wouldn't let a woman take away who he was, wouldn't let them take everything and leave him alone? Where is he, Sasuke? Where is that Little Brother of Mine!?" Itachi let go of his shoulder, turned to walk towards the door, only to face back towards him. "You might be seventeen, but now your acting like a child, running from his problems, feelings. You have to break down sometime, and I'm going to pick you up, like the good older brother I am." He softly whispered, then walk out of the room.

Sasuke sat down on his bed, his head held in-between his hands. " He fell in love with Sakura Haruno. And he's never going to be the same." He quickly stood up and ran out his bedroom door, soon following his front door. He didn't stop, he kept running, running away from his thoughts. Running away from his brother's words, running away from her.

He finally slowed down when he got to the park, shinning in the moonlight. He rubbed the sweat from his forehead, while walking towards the swing set. Sitting down he thought of everything, everything he was trying to run away from.

"Sasuke-kun!" a little Sakura came running up to him, on the swings. " Sasuke-kun? Do you love me?"

To which he as a little boy nodded. "Of course Saku-chan, you're my best friend. What brought this on?"

" Everyone at my school is just making fun of me, saying no one loves me because of my forehead, and my pink hair. It hurts, Why do they hate me so much?!" She yelled while having tears pour out of her eyes.

" Because you're an amazing girl. And they're jealous about how awesome you are, they wish they could be you." little Sasuke said as he got up, walked to where the girl stood. Suddenly he threw his arms around her, shocking the girl. "But no one could ever be you, you're one of a kind." He smiled in to the girl's hair as she cuddled to his little chest.

"I love you, Sasuke-kun. You're my best friend."

"Hn."

Sasuke got up from the swings, walking towards the sand pit they hanged out near. He sat on the edge and thought.

He and Sakura, at thirteen, sat here just watching the kids, parents, and other teens. Sasuke looked away from Sakura. " I need your help."

Sakura kept looking at him, from the corner of her eye, " Okay, what's up?" She then turned towards him, showing pure concern.

" I like this girl." He said still facing away from her.

'There goes my chance. But his happiness matters more, than anything. That's what you do if you love someone.' She thought, with a look of pain on her face. "So what's the problem, I'm sure she likes you back? I mean every female practically falls to your feet, except me and the girls."

Sasuke then turned to her, " She couldn't like me back, though. But I want to tell her, to let her know to take that chance. Saku, I think I love her and it could ruin everything we have if I tell her that." He then stood up and looked down at her, " Should I tell her that? Or leave it be until things fall in to place?"

Sakura looked like she was thinking, " I say give it a couple of weeks then tell her. Let her know how you feel, so in the end she doesn't hurt you without meaning to, not knowing you like her."

He nodded, waved and started walking away. " Thanks, I'm glad I got you for a best friend. You help me all the time." Sasuke whispered. " But you're the girl I'm in love with."

Sasuke stood up, looked around. 'I told her, and everything went the opposite that I planned. She loved me back. Now it seems like we never were in love. After five years of being together, she breaks it off, because of something a stupid idiot said.' He thought. 'I hope you miss the love we shared.' He then remember the day where everything went wrong.

Sasuke was sitting at the lunch table waiting for his girlfriend and best friends. Every body else had gone to stand in line for lunch, while he had his home-made lunch. Naruto sat down next to him, " Dude, what's up with Sakura-chan? She's been crying since Gym."

Sasuke quickly looked at him, "What do you mean, she's been crying!?" he hissed out. Naruto looked at him weird.

"I mean she's been balling her eyes out, that's most likely why she's not here and the girls aren't." He didn't even get to finish what he was saying, due to Sasuke jumping out of his seat and running for court-yard, where he knew she was.

As he guess, she was there. Her head in her knees, knees to her chest and she was sobbing like crazy.

"Sakura!" Sasuke ran up to her, fell to his knees and reach out to hug her, but was stopped.

"Don't touch me! Get away from me! How could you!? You said you loved me!" Sakura screamed her lungs and heart out. She was hurt, he could see that in her eyes, never had he seen her in so much pain. " Why don't you just go?! Go back to that stupid hoe that you cheated on me with!" She quickly stood up, slapped him in the face and ran off. "It's over! I hate you!" She continued running away from him. Sasuke was frozen, he didn't know what to do.

"I didn't do anything. What is she talking about?" as soon as he whispered that, Hinata came to stand beside his fallen form.

"She was sent a picture of you holding a girl, then another one of you kissing. But I know that's not true. So what happened?" She then reached for her phone and showed the pictures to him. She slowly slid to her knees next to the fallen boy.

"It wasn't me. My cousin was in town, we looked alike from the side and behind, it was him! He hadn't seen his girlfriend in months, and that's his girlfriend!" Sasuke yelled out, still looking in the direction his love ran off to.

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Hinata asked as she stood up to follow her crying friend. "Now we need to find out what idiot sent them." she whispered. " I believe you Sasuke. And Sakura is just not thinking straight, she's in pain." Sasuke then just sat there until the rain came down, hiding the tears he didn't want anyone to see.

But that was a couple of months ago, she's been ignoring him since, taking different halls in school not eating at the same table. Everything to stay away from him, anything to get away from the pain he didn't cause. Without warning he ran out of the park towards his house, an idea running through his head for the perfect song he'll write for her.

A few days later

"Sasuke! Are you ready? The talent show starts in half an hour!" Naruto yelled from down the hall of Sasuke's room.

"Yeah I was just finishing up the last touches." Sasuke said walking out of his room in a nice black button up shirt and a pair of jeans with his white shoes. He looked at his male best friend, who was wearing an orange button up with black pants, and blue shoes. " You have no sense of style dobe."

Naruto glared at him, "Says you, Hinata loves my style!"

"That's because she's your girlfriend, she has to be nice."

"Whatever!" Naruto stomped down the stairs, to where Sasuke saw all his male friends. Neji was standing by the door with his electric guitar in his hands, wearing a white button up with black pants and shoes, he also put his hair in to a low ponytail. Shikamaru wore his hair up, with a dark green button up with dark blue jeans, sleeping in a chair with his bass in his lap. Then when he got down stairs fully he saw Naruto playing with his drum sticks.

"You're going to hurt yourself, if you keep twirling those things near your face." Neji told Naruto, who ignored him and suddenly hit himself with his own sticks. Sasuke just shook his head, walking towards the door with his lead guitar in his hands.

"Lets go."

As they arrived at the school, they saw the parking lot packed and people standing around talking. Sasuke got out of the car and spotted pink, he flashed his head in that direction and saw her. To him, she looked so beautiful in her black sweat pants and white tank-top . Her pink hair was tousled on her head in to a messy bun. Her green eyes suddenly turned towards his, he saw the pain within her eyes. All her friends turn towards him and the guys, some with smiles, but mostly of them, without caring look. Naruto looked over to where Sasuke was and saw his girlfriend and his cousin.

"Hey Hinata-Chan! Temari!" Naruto yelled for the two, who walked over.

"Hi Naruto-kun." Hinata, with long violet hair and pear eyes, said as she walked in to her boyfriend's arms. Temari just nodded her dirty blonde head at her cousin and walks up to her boyfriend, Shikamaru.

"How is she doing?" Naruto whispered into her ear. Hinata looked up at him.

"Not good. She misses him like crazy, and she says she's stupid for leaving him because of something that wasn't true." Hinata whispered back. Naruto looked up towards Sasuke, who started walking in to the school, then towards Sakura, who was watching him as he went.

" Well Teme has a plan. We've practice a lot, this should show her, exactly what he wants to show her." Naruto looked down to his girlfriend, not noticing all the other guys heading in, after giving their girlfriends' a kiss, "He's been a mess, his brother even called me up to get something in to his head. It didn't work, but maybe, just maybe this plan in his head will work." He quickly gave Hinata a sweet kiss, " I got to go. Teme will be mad if I don't hurry up. Got to practice one more time." He then ran inside, leaving Hinata with her friends, who were heading inside to get seats.

"Welcome to Konoha High's first ever Talent show! We got some amazing people with awesome talents, but only one person, or group, will get to take home the prize! Now I bring to you the Red Hot Babes!" The principle yelled in to the microphone, she was holding. After a few people had gone, she got up again. " Was they lovely?! Alright! Settle down! We got the last act of the night, everybody knows these boys of course! The Fallen Ravens!" A bunch of screams was heard at that name. Sasuke and his band came out on to the stage, taking the places they were suppose to.

"Hey guys, I'm glad you could make it to be here tonight. I've wrote a new song, it goes out to Sakura Haruno." He paused looking in the crowd for his love, when he finally found her, he stared at her, "Hopefully, she'll take these words to heart, cause that's where they came from." Naruto started to slowly start the beat to the song, the others slowly falling in with the beat.

"You used to talk to me,

Like I was the only one around,

You used to lean on me,

The only other choice was falling down,

You used to walk with me,

Like we had no where we need to go,

Nice and slow,

To no place in particular!"

Sasuke stared at her while singing, he was putting his heart and soul into the words, everyone could feel it.

"We used to have this figured out,

We used to breathe without a doubt,

When nights where clear,

You were the first star that I would see,

We used to have this under control,

We never thought we used to know,

At least there's you and at least there's me,

Can we get this back,

To how it used to be?!"

He screamed out his heart in to the microphone, with Naruto helping with the back up singing. Sakura was staring with awe, while her friends were praying for the best, for things to be better. He kept his glaze on her the entire time so far.

"I used to reach for you,

When I got lost along the way,

I used to listen,

You always had just the right thing to say,

I used to follow you,

Never really cared where we'd go,

Fast or slow,

To anywhere at all!

We used to have this figured out,

We used to breathe without a doubt,

When nights where clear,

You were the first star that I would see,

We used to have this under control,

We never thought we used to know,

At least there's you and at least there's me,

Can we get this back,

To how it used to be?!"

He looked through out the crowd, as if to follow along with the words of the song. Sakura could feel it, the love he still has for her. She felt it within her own soul, denying as much as she has, it's still there. She had found out the real story, but she figured he'd never want to be with her again after everything she said and did. So she ignored him, not wanting to be sneered at, and see him with someone else.

"I look around me,

And I want you to be there,

Cause I miss the things we shared,

Look around you,

It's empty and you're sad,

Cause you miss the love we had!

You used to talk to me,

Like I was the only one around,

The only one around!

We used to have this figured out,

We used to breathe without a doubt,

When nights where clear,

You were the first star that I would see,

We used to have this under control,

We never thought we used to know,

At least there's you and at least there's me,

Can we get this back,

To how it used to be?!"

He scream, well screamed for him, out the words, wanting her to see, he still wanted her, needed her, to make him better, to heal the wounds he inflicted.

"Yeah, to how we used to be?!

To how we used to be, Yeah!"

He finished the song, looking at her. " I hope you want us to be, like how we used to be?" He soon left the stage, with everyone screaming and clapping.

"Well, that was something! I love the song, Uchiha! Alright in a few minutes we'll hear what the judges have to say for who gets the trophy to take home!" The principle said, she then got down, standing next to the judges.

Naruto looked around for his friend, "Sasuke! Hey Sasuke! Where are you?!" He looked everywhere but saw the back door to the school opened up to the night air. He looked out and saw his friend's figure walking away, guitar on his back. He decided to let him go, that boy had let his emotions out, now he most likely wants time to hide them and get them under control again.

"Alright! We have the vote! Can everyone come back to the stage?" Naruto heard, he then grabbed the dozing off Shikamaru and his girlfriend's cousin.

"Uzumaki, Where's Sasuke?" Neji asked looking around.

"He had to go. Don't worry, he'll be fine." Naruto said with a little uncertainly in his voice. After they got to the stage they looked out to the crowd and saw Sakura gone from her seat and their girlfriends' faces had huge smiles. They smirked, or smiled, as they realized where she went.

"The 3rd place winner for the talent show is: The Red Hot Babes!" Karin, Yuki and Shiori stepped up to get the small trophy." The 2nd place winner for the talent show is: The Underdogs!" Sai, Shino, Kiba and Lee all stood in the spot for third place. "Good job guys!" To which they nodded as they hanged on to the slightly bigger than 3rd place trophy, "And the winners of tonight's talent show is: The Fallen Ravens!" She yelled to which everyone jumped around, including Naruto. Shikamaru and Neji didn't have time to celebrate before their girlfriends, Temari and Tenten, ran up to them attacking them with a kiss. Naruto grabbed the prize and said, "Thanks! But Sasuke deserves this more than our band!" Naruto then grabbed Hinata's hand, ran out the door with her behind.

"Naruto-kun, what are we doing?" Hinata said as she tried to run faster to keep up.

"Something we should have done three months ago!" He yelled.

Sasuke sat by himself at the swings, just lightly swinging back and forth. He knew he was waiting, he just didn't know what he was waiting for. Waiting for the tears? Waiting for the pain to come to a stop? Waiting for Sakura to run back to him? He didn't know, he was just waiting. He stared at the ground, thinking.

"Dobe's going to be so mad, when he see's I'm gone." he whispered.

"Nah. I don't think he will." He heard a sweet angel's voice say. He looked up seeing his beautiful angel looking at him, he could see the tears piling up in her green eyes. She slowly walks up to the swings and sits at the one next to him. It was quiet for a minute or so until, " I'm sorry." She whispered, " I don't know what came over me then, I just saw the pictures and didn't get the facts. I should have, but I'm not the type to do that, nee?" She wiped tears from her eyes. " I found out about it a few weeks later. Karin sent it to me, wanting us to break up, so she could get you."

" I should have knew it was her." Sasuke said not taking his eyes off her.

" I was scared. I thought that you wouldn't want me back, because I slapped you and said cruel things. Your brother kept calling me, leaving messages, trying to get me to talk to you, get us back together." She leaned her head against the chain of the swing. " I should have listened to him. Just like you should." She went quiet for a few minutes, long enough for him to gather his thoughts.

" You don't think, I was scared either? All I heard was that you were crying all day, as soon as I get out to you, you scream about something I didn't do, slap me and run off." He whispered. " I was confused. For months I haven't been the same, running all the time, eating only three times a week….. I was- I am a mess." He looked up at the stars. " I always said no woman would change me, if it never worked out." He then looked back at her. "I was wrong. You. All it took was you, and I changed."

"I'm so sorry, Sasuke-kun. I wasn't the same either, I became withdraw not listening to anything. But I'm sorry, I should have heard you out."

"I'm sorry too." Sasuke whispered. He looked at the stars, " I still love you, that I at least know these days."

" I still love you too." Sakura said getting off the seat. " Do we both want to give it another shot? Do we both want it to be how it used to be?" She whispered in front of his face.

"I want us to be how we used to be." Sasuke whispered, leaning up for a kiss, since she was standing and he was sitting. They both kissed, like they never kissed before, putting all their passion, pain, loneliness and love into the kiss.

"Naruto-kun, I don't think we have to do anything anymore." Hinata whispered from their hiding place. She smiled as she saw them kiss. "Let's go."

"You're right, Hinata-chan. I'll give this to him tomorrow." and they snuck off, with out the kissing couple's knowledge. Leaving them to fight another day with their friends, for ruining their moments. And they lived happily ever after, just like how they used to be. Just facing more problems as life went on, but always being how they used to.

A/N: Review, I bet it's not the best but it took me two days to write it and make it good. I hope you like it! CHeck out my other one shots too!