I'm Sorry, a naruto fanfic

here is a narusaku based on the summit episode.

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are created by Masashi Kishimoto, but the new plots are mine. This fanfiction had been written for entertainment purposes only and without intention of infringing upon any copyright.

Ever since they came back from the Summit Meeting, Naruto had been very unresponsive, and after they reported to Lady Tsunade, he left immediently. Sakura was worried to say the least, his demeanor completely changing over the course of the mission. He completely ignored her the whole way back and when she tried conversing with him, he'd either give short responses, or none at all.

After they reported to the hokage, she tried to catch up with him for a bite at Ichiraku, in which he replied "No, thanks Sakura.", Walking away with his shoulders a little more slouched than usual.

What shocked her the most was how he forgot the honorific at the end of her name. What scared her was that she could have sworn he didn't forget it, but that he likely didn't want to use it. What did that mean? Why was he so mad at her? It couldn't have been the "I love you" thing... could it?

Sakura pondered on the thought for a spilt second before dismissing it - the whole situation was done and dealt with. At the end of the day they were ninja, and more than that, they were friends. There was no possible outcome that could have came to be with Naruto facing Sasuke without a causality occurring.

And if she had to lie to save his life - no both of their lives - then it had to be done.

Still, she thought, I hope that didn't cause him any heartbreak...

It seemed like ever since they were children, she caused him an exceptional amount of emotional stress... from rejecting him at the age of thirteen to proclaiming her false love for him, and in hindsight, Naruto never did anything to upset her or ever hurt her.

It seemed as if everything he did for her was always rewarded in small acts of gratitude, or even none at all. And it was very apparent to Sakura that all he ever wanted was her acknowledgement and her praise, and to be quite honest, it flattered her... but it just wasn't what she envisioned for her future.

Up until their teenage years, all she ever did was tolerate him. But ever since Sasuke left, she had no choice but to acknowledge Naruto, albeit only in ways that one could see their teammate after the departure of her estranged crush.

Which wasn't exactly the way he wanted her to see him.

Sakura snapped out of it after hearing the voice of a small child asking their mother if the lady with the pink hair was okay, she smiled at the kid while watching the disturbed mother pull her child away.

Getting back to her thoughts, she may not know how he's feeling right now on his way home, but she knew she had to do something to get her friend back.

Sakura began walking towards her house after standing in front of the Hokage tower for an undisclosed amount of time. The sun began setting into the night sky, and the amount of chatter and light smell of alcohol signaled evening beginning in the village.

She dragged her feet all the way home, not knowing how to feel about disappointing Naruto once again.

Sakura felt like collapsing.

Not from exhaustion, but from guilt.

...

Sakura wrapped her blistered hand around the knob of her front door. Sighing, she let herself relax upon walking over the threshold, but almost had a panic attack when someone tackled her to the floor. Grabbing a kunai, she quickly cut the person in the arm, she heard a painful screech and glanced up.

"Ino?"

Ino clutched her arm but had a smile on her face nonetheless.

"Hey forehead!" She tried to spit out but couldn't hide the pain in her eyes. She slowly got off of Sakura and started to heal the small cut in her arm.

"Ino? how-" Sakura sighed and got up, "never mind. Don't do that again Ino, I could have killed you." She said while walking into her kitchen opening her fridge and pouring herself a cup of almond milk. Ino made a sound showing her disgust.

"Gross, forehead, how do you drink that stuff? I packed your fridge with regular milk and some soda!"

Sakura moved aside the sugary drinks in her fridge to make room for her dairyfree milk. She rolled her eyes and sat at the stool near her kitchen counter.

She side-eyed her best friend while drinking her beverage. "I'm lactose intolerant Yamanaka, you know I can't drink regular milk,"

Sighing and rolling her neck, she continued "Anyway, what are you doing here?" Sakura glanced at the clock, "It's like... ten o'clock... aren't you supposed to be out with your boyfriend?" Rolling her eyes, she said while massaging her temple.

Ino cleared her throat. "Fiancé,"

Sakura's face lit up. She practically ran from her stool and grabbed her left hand, "When?"

Ino grinned. "Yesterday, he told me he wanted to wait, but we went out and the place couldn't have been better." She sighed in delight. "It was so romantic. We went to dinner, then we went to the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. I wanted to tell you but I remembered you were on a mission. I couldn't wait so I stayed in your house and tackled you when I heard you open the door." She sheepishly grinned and laughed at herself as she admired her new ring.

Sakura's face was happy for a few more seconds until it gradually got sadder. Sakura saw Ino admiring her new ring, she consciously looked at her own ring finger showing a look of disgust for it's apparent nakedness. "At least you have something to look forward to."

Ino saw her best friend look down and saw a tear in her eye before she blinked it away. Ino cracked her knuckles with a devilish gleam in her eyes "Who hurt you, and where can I find them?"

Sakura laughed and went over to the couch, she sat down and scratched her head. "How would you react if someone said they loved you... but only so you would stop a potential suicide mission?"

Ino sat down by her and looked at her puzzling, thinking of a response. "Well I would feel happy for the time being until I found out..." She put her finger on her chin, "then the anger would probably get worse once I found out it was just a scheme. And in response to that, I would most likely end up disliking the person for a good while, at least."

Sakura nodded and put her head in her hands, slowly realizing the terrible error she's made.

Ino looked over at her best friend, the stress from her aura was not a pleasent feeling. Ino lightly rubbed Sakura's back and asked "Why do you ask? Did this happen to you?"

Sakura sighed heavily before once again massaging her head, "...Naruto..."

Ino looked shocked to say the least with it quickly replaced with irritation, "When I get my hands on that baka..." Ino trailed off on her rant, going from soft and comforting to all out crazy, never seized to amaze Sakura.

Shikamaru is a lucky man...

Sakura tuned her out for a while, seemingly, Ino didn't quite understand her but she'll address that later. Right now, Sakura needed to find a way to apologize to Naruto. Honestly, not everything that was said at the Summit was a lie, she really did admire him and she did love Naruto.

Maybe not in the way that she said it...

Honestly, she was just confused. She did grow close to Naruto and she could have harbored feelings for him... the feeling of utter disappointment she felt when her Naruto left her stranded in the middle of the street in rejection did hurt her.

Wait.

Her Naruto?

"And another thing, if I was there! Man, no one would be leaving that place alive," Sakura shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times, disbelief encompassing her. "Nobody deserves that! Nobody! Not me, not you, not-"

"-him."

Sakura decided to stop Ino there, Ino looked at her confusingly and Sakura gave her the same look back. The fact that her feelings had only now been discovered due to the possibility of losing Naruto, showed the amount of confusion she actually felt at this very moment. Although it was evident to herself that these feelings were happening quickly, one question still remained.

Did she mean what she said to Naruto?

...

Naruto got out of his steamy shower with a damp towel around his waist, drying his hair, he put on some underwear and shorts, and sat on his bed looking at the old picture collecting dust on his nightstand, the picture of Team Seven.

Slightly sighing and wrinkling his nose, he remembered how fun those days were when they were kids. His then best friend Sasuke Uchiha, who he always tried to up in competition, his teacher Kakashi, the perverted ninja who always had the same "book"he could not not carry around. Then there was the most petite in the group, the pink haired girl that caught his heart the first time he saw her.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt the additional chakra signature in his room, Naruto sighed and put the picture frame back.

"Isn't it kind of late Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes and sat on the windowsill with his arms folded over his chest. "Yes, you should really close your window at night."

The blond gave him a blank stare and folded his towel on his bed. "What do you need?" Totally ignoring his statement "Shouldn't you be sleeping or something? It's like almost twelve o'clock."

"10:15."

Naruto glanced at him with a dumb look. His patience was running thin, and the fact that he came to Naruto's home that late just to talk about the time made his irritation slightly grow more.

Shikamaru kept quiet for a moment, before noticing the stress and anguish in his eyes. Aside from what Sakura said on the mission, he couldn't understand the reasoning behind his feelings. After all, he couldn't have actually believed her? Sakura was kind of known for her infamous love towards the Uchiha.

Regardless, Shikamaru sighed and scratched the back of his head, the knucklehead ninja was known for celebrating at Ichiraku after every mission, so this behavior was out of character, even for Naruto.

"You feel like going anywhere?"

Naruto barely acknowledged he heard the question, the only motion Shikamaru could make out was a weak shrug of the shoulders and a heavy sigh escaping his lips.

He glared at the reclusive way Naruto was acting, could it really have been what Sakura said that made Naruto feel this upset and... sad? The only person he could have asked behind the reasoning was Sai... and everyone knows you can't get any personal information from that emotionless bastard.

"You all right Naruto?"

Naruto didn't answer the question and started going downstairs. "I'd rather not talk about it." his voice soon sounding in-audible as he left the room.

Shikamaru appeared behind Naruto, who was apparently heating up some ramen. Even though he was upset, Naruto was still Naruto.

Shikamaru scoffed; he put his hands in his pockets with a lazy expression on his face. "Well me and the guys wanted to know if you wanted to have an all-nighter at Kiba's place." Shikamaru paused to hear any reply, but after hearing none, he continued. "But looking at you now, I guess you'll be holding your own tonight.

Naruto remained silent and picked up a fork from the sink, he nodded his head and continued his business.

Shikamaru took his hands out of his pockets and rubbed his forehead. This silence from Naruto was very uncomfortable, and honestly, it just felt wrong.

"Is it Sakura?"

Naruto never responded, but from the elongation of the water running and the hot steam no doubt piercing his skin, to Naruto's head drooping in front of the sink, Shikamaru got his answer.

The shadow enhancer stayed quiet.

...

When Sakura told Ino what she did to Naruto, Sakura faced her second problem: Was she in love with Naruto? A question that both never thought about, but even the sheer possibility of Naruto leaving her mentally killed Sakura.

Still, it took his leaving to ignite her feelings, and since her feelings seemed legitimate, Ino decided to take the problem into her own hands. Following the end of her sulking, Sakura took a shower to clear her head, and Ino decided that they couldn't fix the problem if Naruto wouldn't listen to her.

"So I know that Shika is over there, because he asked me to meet him there before we went out, anyway I'm not really sure if Naruto is mad or not, but I think he would be willing to hear you out if you go over and apologize to him." Ino said, feeling proud of herself.

Sakura came out in a towel, eyes a bit red, listening to Ino talking. Since she couldn't think of anything else, she decided to go with it. Sakura honestly just wanted to hug him and apologize, the timing may not be right but she'd rather tackle this problem before it turns into awkward silence between her and Naruto.

Ino looked though her closet and took out her civilian clothing. "I want you to go apologize, I know he's awake, because like I said, Shikamaru is over there."

Sakura sat on her bed, thinking of all the possible outcomes... she put her hand through her wet hair, and wondered. "What if he doesn't want to see me?" Sakura said before her eyes got a bit watery. It was very unorthodox for Sakura to be crying over anything, it was a shocker to herself and her best friend.

Ino stopped looking through her clothes and sat next to Sakura on her bed.

"He loves you." Sakura bit her lip and looked down. "Look, he will never hate you. From the first day he laid his eyes on you, you were the one. Now imagine how he will feel when you actually reciprocate his feelings for real now. The way you feel for him is new, and it will take adjusting, but admitting your feelings to him will be like a high he's never felt.

Sakura slightly smiled at her best friend for that encouraging speech, she silently thanked her and looked past Ino and eyed her clothes.

"I'll walk you over to his apartment, Shika and I will leave after I escort you.

Sakura hesitantly nodded her head.

...

Naruto had put on some proper pants, because Shikamaru and Ino were planning to meet at his apartment for whatever reason. Naruto sat on his couch, silently waiting for the Yamanaka to arrive so he could go to sleep, and call it a day. A miserable, stressful day.

Shikamaru relaxed his hands in his pockets, wondering what would become of him and Sakura.

...

Sakura shivered as the wind went right through her. "Ino, I don't know if I can do this, I hurt him and I think he might need time alone."

Ino shook her hand and closed her eyes, "Don't worry forehead, some people need space," she said while stretching her arms above head, "and some people just need love."

It seemed like time stopped at that moment. Sakura widened her eyes at that, but she realized that it was true wasn't it? Maybe all Naruto needed was love.

...

Naruto's emotions were becoming more conflicted as he sat there, thinking about his past, his failure in romance and the hole in his heart that never quite got filled by anyone. He got angry, mad that all though he managed to get through childhood loneliness and rejection from the village people when he was just a kid, he just couldn't shake the feeling of his heart being broken by the one person he loved the most.

At that thought, Naruto started to get up and head for his room, "You let yourself out Shikamaru, and tell Ino I said hi.

Shikamaru lowered his voice, he couldn't stand to see his friend be defeated this way. "Do you want to talk to Ino? Maybe she can talk to Sakura for you..?"

And at that moment, it was as if something snapped in Naruto. "No... Shikamaru" Naruto's voice sounded different, his eyes shinning red, his whiskers looking more defined. "Talk to Sakura for me?" He scoffed at the request.

"She's done nothing but hurt me."

Shikamaru was slightly taken aback; the fact that Naruto is standing there with enough anger that the demon side of him is leaking out enough chakra to become visible, really shows how much he trusted and cared for her, and how much her lie and betrayal broke him.

Literally.

Then there was a knock at the door, and as if Shikamaru wasn't shocked enough, he sensed the chakra accompanied with his fiancée's, the very woman Naruto felt so heavily for.

Shikamaru opened the door, with a small look of surprise on his face, he held out his hand for Ino, which she took ever so gracefully and whispered good luck to Sakura before leaving with him.

Naruto sensed the chakra of Sakura's even before Shikamaru did, the moment Shikamaru and Ino left, Naruto appeared in front of Sakura in a matter of seconds. Looking at her through the threshold of his home, his defined features, thanks to the infamous Kyuubi, did not falter.

Making him even more intimidating.

Sakura looked up at him through her widened green orbs and saw the condition he was in, the only reason she was startled was not because of his intimidating stance over her, but rather her ability to make Naruto lose his mind because of three words said in the wrong context.

Some people need space, and some just need love.

Sakura covered her mouth with one of her hands and before she even knew it, the tears rolled out from her eyes. She couldn't believe what she saw, all though it was Naruto, his demonic side slowly overwhelmed his emotions and it's obvious he let go, his hurt was one that involved his heart, his love.

His love for her overwhelmed him, he couldn't control it.

Naruto was mad, but overall he was heartbroken, devastated and his dark, demonic, red eyes told a story to Sakura that only she could read, only she felt the depth of sorrow Naruto was going through. He looked at her and his eyebrows went from a furrow to a softer look.

Her other shaky hand slowly reached up and cupped his face, she caressed his soft damp cheeks in her hands. Sakura lightly gasped at the feeling of old tears staining his cheeks. He was crying too... she thought he didn't care about her this whole time... that he was too upset to even waste his tears over her.

How wrong was she?

Naruto was slightly shocked at the sudden contact but made no move away from her, and finally subcuming to her touch, his eyes slowly closed at the intimate contact. Sakura couldn't stop her tears from falling, she blinked in shock as he deepened his head into her touch, and his dark whiskers relinquished into the normal shade they always were.

They stayed like that for a while until his eyes re-opened and they returned to the beautiful shade of turquoise that made his blond hair stand out in the night. She dropped her hand from her mouth as they made eye contact and she couldn't find herself tearing away from his gaze, his eyes held her in a trance and she looked at him as if he was the last person on earth.

He was so beautiful and it took his tears and anger for her to realize that.

She dropped her gaze from him for a split second before looking at him again. They both stood there, Sakura trying to find the words to say, trying to figure out what she felt herself and her newfound feelings. Naruto's facial expression was unreadable, he stepped aside to let in Sakura from the shivering coldness of the night. She walked in and sighed at the warmth that hit her gooosebumped skin.

Naruto closed the door behind him. He turned around and saw her dazed out, he sighed and looked down at the floor. What was this about? Is she here to "make it up to him"? or maybe rub everything she's done so far in his face? And what the hell was that anyway? She didn't have to do this, she didn't have to pretend to love him the way he did her... This whole situation was nothing more than a mockery of his feelings, once again.

Sakura stood there dazed, truth was, is that she was scared. She didn't know what to do now, an apology was long overdue and super cliche, but standing there and looking like an idiot after that moment they shared was not an option either. She bit her lip but looked away from him, was she making this more difficult than it had to be?

Seconds went by and her silence somehow only further infuriated Naruto, it seemed to him as if she was trying to figure out how to play with his emotions, his feelings for her. Naruto closed his eyes and balled his fist in anger, he thought all she wanted was to "make things better" by somehow giving him ridiculous touches and coming to his home at midnight just to apologize.

He grinded his teeth and finally spoke out.

"This is a waste of time."

Sakura instantly looked at him, looked at his figure, she saw how ached he was, how white his knuckles became, how troubled his eyes looked. Sakura saw how messy his hair was and how defensive he had become. The feeling was surreal, because of the lack of kindness she saw in his eyes, the less exuberant he was. She saw him. She finally saw him. And she wasn't mad one bit. Sakura's lips quivered and her body shook as she realized how much he loved her.

And how much she loved him.

Sakura would've ran if she could, instead she walked to him with a need, a hunger from across the room. His eyes widened at the speed she came at him, and just like that, he couldn't register everything he just saw unfold, as she tipped on her toes to grab his neck and pull his head down to hers, crashing her lips onto his.

Everything else became irrelevant in that moment in time. Sakura wrapped her tiny arms around his naked upper half body, holding on for dear life. Naruto couldn't comprehend what was happening, he didn't know what to do with his hands or anything, really.

But Sakura didn't care. She moved her lips against his soft, warm ones. Wrapping her hands around his neck, she deepened the kiss as much as she could before Naruto started responding. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her. His first and only love, his childhood crush. He held on to her so tightly she started wincing, his fresh tears touching her face.

Sakura pulled away to wipe away his tears. "Why?" she asked while caressing his cheeks and holding on to him.

Naruto dipped his head into the small of her neck and mumbled into her skin. Words that she could tell, he had been dying to say his whole life. "You love me, Sakura-chan..."

Sakura held his head and stared at him in the eyes with the same love he stared at her with for years. She kissed his lips chastely; "Naruto, I love you." she rubbed his back and whispered, "I mean it." Sakura laid her head on his chest and they stood there for what seemed like hours. Naruto genuinely smiled and the fire and love came back into his eyes as natural as a baby first learning to walk.

Naruto picked up Sakura in a playful manner as she was slowly closing her eyes due to the day's exhausting crying sessions. Sakura slightly gasped as she yelped "Naruto, let me down!" slightly giggling at his extreme and happy mood change, caused by her, of course. She didn't really mean it though, as she rested her head against his bare chest. They went up to his room and he laid her on his soft bed.

She looked up at him with a love she never thought she'd have, and he looked back at her with the love he's always had, a love that has only ever been growing since he was a young child. He caressed her face and drank in all the beautiful features of his Sakura. Naruto was so happy, he could cry again while grinning like a fool.

But he decided against that.

totally revised the ending. xx

also thank you to a review for pointing out that skim milk wasn't dairy free, my bad! it's been changed to almond

jasminefiore