I Knew

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or the Naruto world, those belong to Kishimoto. Again, this story is mature and includes strong sexual themes and adult language.

Chapter 2

Sakura

The war was brutal. Death surrounds me, especially as a medical nin, and every person that I can't heal sinks me further inside myself. I wish I was back on that island with Naruto or back in Konoha. I wish the war was already over. I'd return home and see my parents, the reunion would be disappointing at best. They might hug me once before pushing me away, or maybe they will complain that I was on the front lines. I'd defend myself, maybe try to tell them of the horrors I saw, but they would already be shut down and would only push me farther away the more I talked. But still, I'd be happy to see them before I went home with Naruto.

Home. Such a funny word. I always thought home was where you slept or grew up, but over the years I've learned it's a feeling. A feeling of where you belong. If there's anything I know, it's that Naruto is my home. Well, him and Sasuke.

From the moment we were made team 7, it's like my life clicked into place. Sasuke was someone I could share everything with, even when he pretended not to listen or care. I still saw his fist clench as I told him of a particularly bad argument with my parents that ended with them kicking me out of the house one night when I was 11. Or when he found me alone on a bench a few weeks after that, terrified to go home after returning on a mission where I almost died. He never said a word, just sat beside me as I cried my heart out and walked me home afterwards. He was my strength and my protector, despite being a complete and total asshole most of the time. I knew deep down, he cared for me and I fell in love with him for it.

Naruto started off as the comic relief of our group. Originally, I saw him as an obstacle to getting Sasuke. He was always making jokes and starting fights. Somehow he grew on me and I realized his exterior was a shield to protect himself. He had no one in his life, no one that stayed. His parents were gone and after a brief stint in the orphanage, he was kicked out at age 5 for causing too much trouble. They said he was of age to take care of himself, he was supplied an apartment and a monthly food allowance. Somehow that made it all okay in their eyes. I never understood why the third hokage was okay with it, but he was. Naruto lived on his own, ostracized by the other villagers and laughed at by other kids his age. So he made jokes, he picked fights, he shielded himself from caring about anyone.

Somehow he cared about me. I'm not sure how I slipped past his shield. Iruka sensei made sense, he stuck up for Naruto through everything, but I was just a girl. A girl in the academy who made fun of him like the rest. A girl who ended up on the same team as him and pushed him away every chance she would get. But he still cared.

He became the glue of our family. I could trust him to always be there, even when Sasuke wasn't. To listen, even when he didn't understand. And he could always make me smile like no other. I pretended his jokes weren't funny, that he was immature, but the truth is his humor was my kind of humor. If Sasuke was the person who would support me quietly when I needed it, Naruto was the person who would cheer me up afterwards. Slowly, I fell in love with him too.

In my imagination, the one where the war is over, I'd go home to both of them. We'd all live together in harmony, Naruto's humor would fill our house, Sasuke would silently protect us all and simply listen when someone needed to talk, and I would take care of them and love them both. But that won't happen, it can't. I have to choose one of them in the end.

Shaking my head, I look down at the dead ninja in front of me. I have no idea who he is or what village he hailed from. All I know is he was blasted into the ground hard enough to cause swelling in his brain and internal organs shredded to pieces. By the time he was brought to me, I couldn't stop the bleeding fast enough for me to focus on his brain. It was a catch 22, if I had started with his brain he would have bled out internally, if I had started with the organs he would be brain dead before I stopped the bleeding. Still, I tried.