Fanfiction (narusasusaku) - conversation between Sakura & Naruto after Sakura‘s „attack“ on Sasuke in the Five Kage Summit arc
Naruto(angry): how could you? Tell me you love me? Deceive me? Trying to kill Sasuke? I don’t recognize you anymore
Sakura(guilty): Naruto… I..I‘m
Naruto: No, don’t Naruto me… not this time…
Sakura(starts crying): I didn’t meant it like that
Naruto(confused): you make no sense
Sakura: All I ever wanted was to take the burden off of you… Sasuke is my responsibility too… and I don’t want you to die trying alone
Naruto(shaking his head):This is between me and him. I’m the only one who can bring him back and understands him. Stay out of it !
Sakura(shocked): You’re suggesting to watch both of you die?
Naruto(serious): You make everything more complicated. I can’t fully trust you anymore after this
Sakura(getting closer): ? I know you think I deceived you but Naruto I truly love you… and him. I can’t just be a bystander
Naruto (voice low, strained): Loving us doesn’t give you the right to decide our fate
Sakura (tears falling): I’m not deciding it… I’m trying to share it. I’m tired of watching the two people I love most walk toward death like it’s a promise you have to keep. And the worst part is that you keep saying it’s inevitable like you’re so content with this idea!
Naruto(screaming for the first time at Sakura): That’s exactly why you should step back! It’s a promise I made to you and myself. You hesitated. You lied. You hurt me and yourself and god knows what would’ve happened if Sasuke’s blood got on your hands! believe me, you can’t handle such a burden Sakura!
Sakura (flinches): I know. I see it every time I close my eyes. But if I hadn’t tried… if I had just stayed behind like you told me to… I would’ve hated myself even more if I let you carry the burden all by yourself
Naruto (clenching his fists): You think I don’t hate myself already for failing you and him this whole time ? Every step he takes away from us feels like another failure carved into my chest. But it’s my burden. I chose it for you and me; so there’s no need to hate yourself. But now you just added more trauma to the plate. Or am I wrong ?
Sakura: what do you mean ?
Naruto(also getting closer, looking Sakura straight in her eyes): How does it feel to close your eyes and remember how your lover tried to kill you, murder you in cold blood several times? Was it worth a try to carry my burden and „spare me“?
Sakura(eyes wide, speechless for a few seconds): …..you just… don’t think you deserve help that’s why you’re saying all this to me
Naruto (laughs bitterly): hmpf… keep telling yourself that, you know the truth. You chose to poison me with hope you didn’t mean and can’t handle.
Sakura (getting closer, touching his chest): I meant it more than anything. I just… couldn’t do it. My love for him made me fail. The fear of losing him forever took over. But believe me Naruto, I went to these lengths, acted out of my character not just for him to end his misery but for you too!! I love you so much I can’t bear to see you crush your dream of becoming Hokage!
Naruto(pushing her off slightly): please…stop saying it like that. You looked at me and decided I needed protecting. You decided my promise was something that could be sacrificed if it meant less blood on your hands, one kill only. And maybe anyone else would’ve thanked you for that… but not me.
Sakura(sounding desperate): do you really think I wanted any blood on my hands or yours or his ?? No!! I never wanted this! But yes I’m selfish enough to protect you becaouse I don’t want to lose you ! I am scared Naruto, why won’t you understand?
Naruto(walking from side to side getting impatient): … I know fear. I live with it. I wake up every day knowing the road I chose might kill me. But that’s the price of my promise. If I flinch, if I let someone else carry it because I’m afraid of losing my dream or my life, then becoming Hokage doesn’t mean anything.
Sakura(whispering): you act like you don’t hear me saying I love you and I can’t lose you…
Naruto(standing right in front of her): You say you love me. I believe you do. But love isn’t taking the choice away from me. It isn’t deciding I’d be better off ignorant or spared. Loving me means standing there, even when you’re terrified, and letting me walk forward knowing exactly what it could cost.I don’t hate you for failing. I hate that you thought I needed you to succeed for me. For my own protection.
Sakura(touching his cheek): why…. why is it so hard to let me in? I respect your choice but is it so hard to let me be a part of it and help ?
Naruto (eyes softening despite himself, leaning into her touch for just a second before stopping): You don’t understand how heavy you are to me, Sakura. If you walk beside me and get hurt because of my choice, I won’t be able to keep going. I’ll hesitate. I’ll look back. And the second I do that, Sasuke is gone forever.
Sakura(pulling away): so you’re afraid that becaouse of me you won’t be able to save Sasuke ?
Naruto(widening the distance): aren’t you the one who loves him most ?
Sakura(overwhelmed): w..what do you mean ?
Naruto(taking a slow breath, heart aching): When I look at you, I see someone whose heart has been tied to his since we were kids. And every time you smile a little less, every time you pretend you’re fine, I know why. I know exactly the source of your pain. It comes from loving him too deeply, other people might even call it toxic love.
Sakura:…I don’t understand
Naruto: what I’m trying to say is…a big part of why I’m doing this is because of you. Because I want you to laugh the way you used to. I want to see you happy again. Your sadness isn’t loud, it’s quiet and terrifying. I see it in the way your eyes hesitate before they meet mine, like they’re holding a secret pain you don’t want to give anyone permission to touch; so petrified someone would use it against you and you would completely shatter….
Sakura(voice steady although shivering): You think I don’t know that? You think I don’t feel it rotting inside me every single day? Yes…my love for him became something toxic. But you know what hurts more than admitting that?
Naruto(staring into her soul, not even blinking):…
Sakura(gettin really close to his face, tears running down her cheeks): Realizing that while I was drowning in that toxic love… you were quietly becoming my anchor. You were there every time I fell apart. Every time I pretended I was fine. Every time I smiled so no one would ask questions. You never demanded my heart, never blamed me for where it was… you just stayed. You grew beside me. You believed in me when I couldn’t even recognize myself anymore. And somewhere along the way—without me noticing—you stopped being the boy who chased me… and became the man I trusted with my life.
Naruto(wiping away her tears): Sakura…
Sakura: I don’t understand why I still love him after everything… after he made me feel so small and irrelevant… when you created so much space for me. For my anger. For my guilt. For my silence. For my pain. When I’m scared it’s your voice I keep hearing.. the endless support you give me, I just want to give back… so please I beg you let me help you bring him back !
Naruto(pressing his forehead to hers): how come I am hearing everything I wished to hear from you, yet this won’t change what comes next… If I let you fight beside me now, it won’t be about saving Sasuke anymore. It’ll be about protecting you. Every move I make, every choice, I’ll be measuring it against the look on your face, against the fear in your voice. I’ll hesitate. I’ll soften. And Sasuke doesn’t need softness right now—he needs someone who can face him without looking away. This is something that started long before you or I understood what love was. It’s a promise between two idiots who grew up alone and decided, in different ways, to survive by refusing to let go.
Sakura(slightly straightening her head, their faces closer than ever): please… I implore you…
Naruto(sighting): don’t beg me…please
Sakura (sobbing): That’s cruel… you know that’s cruel.
Naruto: I rather be cruel to you…I won’t turn your love into leverage. I won’t let your pain be the reason I hesitate or the reason I fail. This is between me and him, and it has to stay that way.
Sakura(whispering softly): but my pain is also the reason you’re doing all this ?! It’s so paradoxical!!
Naruto: I know. But Sasuke‘s anger is too dangerous to play around. He’s not acting out—he’s convinced himself that hate is clarity. Every move he makes is precise, deliberate, meant to cut away anything that reminds him he was ever human. If I face him and hesitate, even for a second, he won’t stop. He’ll destroy everything in front of him… including himself. I need to be ready to hit him. Hard. Not out of anger, but to wake him up. To reach him in the only language he’ll listen to right now.If you’re there, I’ll hold back. I’ll worry about you. And that’s how I lose him.This isn’t something I can share. I have to stand in front of his darkness alone—and not flinch.
Sakura (grabbing his face,lips so close to his but stops herself): Naruto… I’m so deeply sorry
Naruto(putting some distance): I can’t give you what both of us want Sakura. And I don’t want your apology. I want you to stop believing that loving deeply makes you guilty. It doesn’t. On the contrary it makes you so vulnerable and beautifully strong!
Sakura(gives him a small push and a smile appears on her face full of tears): I didn’t want you to kiss me.. you idiot
Naruto(grinning widely): yeah yeah… tell yourself that. And back to the topic… someone’s gotta knock some sense into that annoying idiot. You know Sasuke gets one tragic backstory upgrade and suddenly he’s allergic to sunlight and good decisions.
Sakura(giggling): Go punch him for me, okay? Really ,really hard. If he starts monologuing about hatred or destiny, just hit him again. And please tell him that punch was from me. Even though I’ll punch him when he gets home.
Naruto(smiles warmly): I promise you will get the chance to punch him endlessly and I’ll be you’re front row spectator
Sakura(giving pinky promise): okay. Deal.
Naruto(touching her face softly): Hey…and no matter how dark things get out there, remember this—you were never a burden, and you were never alone. You gave me something worth coming back to long before you ever realized it. So hold onto that smile for me, okay? I’ll find my way back to it and Sasuke will find his way back to you too! I promise on my life!
Sakura: okay… I will stay out of it… we’re such idiots… I can’t believe it
Naruto(letting out a small, familiar laugh, rubbing the back of his neck): Classic team 7. of course we‘re idiots. Honestly… if anyone else tried this, they’d be dead already. We’re the only ones stupid enough to survive it—and somehow, that’s our superpower.
Sakura(laughing): yeah… only we could survive this mess
