Naruto: Ninjas In Love (Sasuke x Oc)

Bursting Feelings

(A/N: Day 4 of our 12 Days of Christmas updates)

Sasuke's Pov
We made it to the cave

"Shiori, let's go find some dry wood to start a fire" I say

"Uh I can go with you Sasuke" Sakura offers

"He asked me" Shiori says

The two of them starts glaring at each other

"What's with them? There's been so much tension between them lately" Naruto says

"Yeah" I nod

'That's why I need to talk to Shiori. She's holding something back again. She would always smile to hide her pain from others'

"I want to go with Shiori, alright? Just stay here with Idate and Naruto and wait for us to get back" I tell Sakura

"Uh oh, alright" Sakura says disappointedly

"Let's go Shiori" I say as I walk out of the cave

"Coming" Shiori says as she follows me

We start walking around looking for wood

"So, what's on your mind lately?" I say as we walk

"What do you mean?" Shiori asks

"You're holding something back again. You tend to do that to keep others from worrying and seeing what you think are your imperfections. Just like when Uncle and Auntie gets mad at you when you make mistakes, you don't want others to find out, you always want to appear perfect" Sasuke says

"You know me so well"

"Of course I do. We've been together all our lives. And I've noticed this past few weeks that there's something going on with you and Sakura. You two were friendly with one another, but now you two are glaring at each other and trying to be better than the other" I say

Shiori looks down, speechless

"Look, if something's going on, you have to tell me. You know you don't have to hold anything back from me, right?"

"Yeah, you're right"

"So will you tell me what's wrong?"

Shiori and I stop walking, she turns to face me. She explained what happened while I was at the hospital and how her feelings towards Sakura starts growing toxic, but chose to ignore it to keep the team dynamic. Sakura's declaration made her burst

'She's been holding in so much of her feelings all this time'

Shiori is crying as she tells me

"I know I'm the one you love and I know how much you love me, but...I can't help but be scared. All these years, I know how popular you are with the girls. I brushed them off because to me what they feel for you is nothing but infatuation because of your looks. I love you not just because of you looks, my love for you runs deeper than what they feel for you so I never cared if they had crushes on you"

'Shiori'

"But Sakura's been taking things too far. I don't like it. Unlike the Ino and the other girls, Sakura's desperately trying to steal you from me, saying she loves you more than I do. No one's ever confronted me and made declarations like that like before, so I wasn't sure how to act. But all I know is she started this war and I'm not gonna let her get her way. I love you too much to let that happen"

I hug Shiori tightly

"You've been holding back so much. Why didn't you tell me?" I say

"I didn't want to show you the ugly feelings in my heart and I wanted to be professional since we're on the same squad, it wouldn't be mature if I let personal resentment to a teammate affect my performance during a mission. I wanted to handle it as soon as possible" she answers

"You know I love you right? You're the only one I love, you're the only one I show my weakness, you're the only one I'll do anything for. Do you really think I'll let someone else steal me from you?"

"I know how much you love me, I know I'm the only one you love, I do. But seeing someone so serious about you angers me so much" she cries

"You think you're the only one who feels that way? Everywhere we go, there's always someone who wants to ask you out. Whether it's an enemy or not, there's someone always ready to ask you out. Seeing you enjoy the attention you get annoys me too. I don't like it when other guys ask you out. You're too nice to them, letting them down too gently, that's why they'll love you even more" I say

"I'm sorry"

"...And the way you speak so highly of that Neji guy, the way you look at him. I get really jealous" I say seriously

"Why didn't you tell me you you felt that way?" Shiori asks

"You really admire him. I didn't want to tell you to stay away from him and make you sad. You're not the only one afraid to lose me, I'm also afraid to lose you, just the thought of you falling in love with him instead, really annoys me" I say honestly

"You were holding back so much"

"So were you"

"I'm sorry for making you feel that way" she says as she hugs me

"I'm sorry for not acting on to your distress sooner" I say

"I guess we need to be more honest with each other huh?" Shiori smiles despite her tears

"We do. From now on, we won't keep anything from each other" I say

"*Giggle* Yeah, we'll tell each other everything" Shiori says in a sweet giggle

I hold her cheeks with my hands, her arms are still around my back

"I don't care what Sakura feels about me, to me she's nothing more than a teammate and maybe a friend. You're the only one I have eyes for. You're the most beautiful, sweet, kind, and most talented girl I know. And I love so much"

"Aww Sasuke" tears falls from her eyes

"I don't care what what she does to win my affections because it won't work but if what's she's doing is bothering you then I want you to let me know because I won't tolerate it" I tell her seriously

"Sasuke...Thank you" Shiori says as she cries harder

I wipe her tears with my thumbs

'She's so cute'

"I want to tell you something too" she says

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" I ask her

"I want you to know that what I feel for Neji is purely admiration, friendship, and respect. I don't have and will never will have romantic feelings for him or any other guy. I'm sorry for enjoying the attention I get, I just love the thought of being loved by everyone around me, it makes me feel special and more confident. I promise I'll try to be more blunt when turning guys down. You're the only one I love too and I would do anything for you" she says confidently

'Shiori'

"I know that, but I can't help but be jealous because I love you too much" I smile at her

"And I can't help but be scared of other girls trying so hard to steal you away because I love you too much" she says

"How could I let someone steal me away and throw away the pure bliss of being with you? You and what we have is the most important thing to me"

Shiori and I smile at each other as we open up about the feelings we've been holding back inside of us for a very long time

"Thank you for talking to me" Shiori says in a sweet whisper as she buries her face on my chest

I hug her closer to me

"I belong to you completely. And you belong to me" I say

"Yes" Shiori says

Shiori and I stand in the same spot and continue to let out all the the things we've been holding back as we hold onto each other in the rain, our bond stronger than ever before