Look at Me, Ino
Create your own story with WhatIf!
Create your own story with WhatIf!
Characters in this story
- Sakura Haruno
- Naruto Uzumaki — "There's no easy path to becoming hokage!"
- Sasuke Uchiha — "You are in my way."
- Gaara
- Itachi Uchiha
Story transcript
Sasuke: Hey. Sakura.
Sasuke: I know it's late. And I know I didn't give you any notice that I was coming home tonight.
Sasuke: But there've been some things on my mind that I wanted to— I had to tell you.
Sasuke: I'm not used to speaking like this. I don't know how to express my feelings.
Sasuke: Damn it.
Sasuke: With you turned away from me on the bed right now, I'm not even sure if you're awake. Doesn't matter.
Sasuke: If you are awake, don't say anything. And if you aren't, maybe this will all be like some part of a beautiful dream.
Sasuke: I often dismissed you, but it's because I was afraid of my feelings for you.
Sasuke: I couldn't let you get in the way of my quest for revenge, my mission.
Sasuke: I was mean to you because I liked you.
Sasuke: Look at me, Ino.
Sasuke: The forehead thing was silly. I love your forehead.
Sasuke: You're a healer. I'm a destroyer. We balance each other out.
Sasuke: I pushed everyone away, but you always gave me all your love.
Sasuke: You're not annoying.
Sasuke: When you touch me, I blush. I can't control it. But I could ignore it.
Sasuke: You see that I wasn't as cold-hearted as I needed to be. And I couldn't have anyone see that.
Sasuke: You make my body just move on its own. I'm not always in control around you. You confuse me.
Sasuke: After our fight with Haku, when I awoke with you holding me, I couldn't let you see me cry.
Sasuke: But I couldn't push you away, either.
Sasuke: You became my family. And in the end, I had to make you even more.
Sasuke: With the power of the newly brought curse seal, but you were able to calm me.
Sasuke: Do you remember during the Chunin Exams you asked me to withdraw? You saw my path even clearer than I did.
Sasuke: I was lost in my pain. I could only see revenge. I was still the avenger.
Sasuke: I could feel what you meant to me. And it made me weak. Or so I thought.
Sasuke: That's why I said I wouldn't be able to forgive even you.
Sasuke: Again, when Gaara had me dead to rights, you put yourself in harm's way to protect me.
Sasuke: It gave me the strength to come back. To forego revenge so I wouldn't see another person I love die before my eyes again.
Sasuke: As you cried, and I let you hold me, you gave me a brief time away from the darkness, and you cried for both of us.
Sasuke: I left the village so that I could gain the power it would take to protect you. To protect us all.
Sasuke: I loved you so much in that moment. I almost said yes. To have a partner in my quest.
Sasuke: But I knew it would be dangerous. I had to protect you. I had to do it alone.
Sasuke: That's why I told you you were annoying. Why I left you behind.
Sasuke: Even though all I wanted was to say yes, come with me, take you into my arms.
Sasuke: In the years that followed, I only sunk deeper into darkness. Without you and Naruto, there was nothing to keep me afloat.
Sasuke: Thank you for not forgetting me like I forgot you. You saved me again.
Sasuke: Perhaps somehow, deep down, I knew you and Naruto would never let me go.
Sasuke: Perhaps that's what gave me the strength to go as far as I went, and the strength to come back.
Sasuke: I needed to pay for my crimes. Or I'd never have been able to someday ask for your forgiveness. To come home.
Sasuke: So, I guess what I'm trying to say in my own fashion is... I'm sorry. And I love you. I've always loved you.
Sasuke: I'll never be easy. I'll never be good. But I will be yours.