Years had passed and, in the end, it was time that brought them together.

"Look at that hair,"

"It's ugly, come on, what are you; a witch or something?"

They all laughed at her. She was small, weak and all on her own. Tears burned down their way on her cheeks while the girl behind her grabbed her hair tightly and it hurt so bad, but screaming would only please them further.

"How can someone with pink hair be called 'normal'," they huffed with their heads held high.

"You wanna be normal, pinkie? You wanna be like us?" They asked.

She heard the girl behind her pull out a kunai and fear tightened her chest. Sakura could feel her heart beating in her throat and it was hard not to throw up in this moment.

"We should do something about that hair of yours then," they threatened.

"Don't worry, once we're done, you shall be one of us, I promise."

Sakura's vision blurred due to the thousand tears that fled from the corner of her emerald green eyes. She heard them laugh, louder, stronger - it was madness.

The girl that used to be so weak and helpless, closed her eyes and waited silently, patiently for the end to come. She wouldn't fight, she couldn't. They were too many and she was alone, small, weak, useless...

"Hey, You! What are you doing to her?!" The young boy barked loudly, running towards the group of girls with anger glaring in his bright blue eyes. He came to a halt in front of a pink haired girl - their parents had told them to keep him at distance. Usually it hurt him deeply, though not now, when they were bullying this small girl over something so obviously silly.

"Let's go," the leader of their group mumbled and, eventually they followed her, though not without paying him their vicious glares.

He bowed down just enough to let his hands rest on his knees and smiled brightly at the crying figure in front of him.

"It's okay now, they're gone!" His words didn't seem to calm her down, though, and he had to wonder what to do with her.

"Uhm, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it," he grinned, and still, the girl wouldn't bother to meet his gaze. Naruto fell silent for a few seconds, thinking of what to do, since he had no experience at all once it came to sympathy.

Her cries bothered him, the sound of her cracking voice hurt him and seeing her so lonely, he began to understand.

"Your hair," he then whispered, but those two words caught her attention, green eyes glancing at him, as though he was about to hurt her,

"They're pretty," Naruto grinned, "Believe it!"

Everyone's here, she recognizes with a small smile, her eyes shining a light green, reminding those around her of apples, emeralds and green tea. When he eventually stands on top of the Hokage Tower, her hands run, absentmindedly, over her belly. Soon, they'd become whole, a small family, but filled with pure love.

Her cheeks shimmered in a gentle pink, as his words still echoed through her mind.

"Na-Naruto, eh?" She stuttered, surprised by his sudden presence. His bright blue eyes matched the sky and slowly, a feeling of safety rose within her. She'd seen him before, though from a distance only.

Sakura had had no idea why everyone chose to ignore him, when he was obviously so nice, and open-hearted, the entire opposite of her - an anxious, shy and weak human being. She knew this boy, Naruto, was lonely, lonelier than her, but she already started to, maybe, like him. She couldn't tell what that feeling inside her meant, but she liked it, and it was the first time she'd ever felt it. So, if he made her feel this way - feeling safe, protected, and at peace, then they'd maybe become friends, right?

His voice pulled her out of her train of thoughts, though, and she met his gaze once more as he spoke, "Yeah, and one day, I'm gonna be Hokage, believe it!"

Her eyes closed with a smile on her lips.

"Hmm, I hope you will."

The war was won, Madara was defeated, Team 7 was back together. As she looked through the group of people, trying to find him, she soon recognized he wouldn't make it in time.

Sasuke.

After the war had been won, and Naruto and Sasuke fought their last battle, the Uchiha had finally returned to Konoha. At that time, she'd still loved him deeply, she'd thought, but after he left for his journey to see the world from another angle, she was back left alone. Durning all those years, Sakura had assumed that, once Sasuke was back, she would be whole, happy and at peace but surprisingly, when Sasuke had come back after several years, she'd found herself empty, still longing for love to fill the hole within her heart.

Although an era of peace was found and saved, the war inside her had kept on destroying her mind and heart. She had a family of course, other than her teammates and she loved her parents, of course, but somehow her heart longed for more - a true family she would be able to protect. She hadn't been the weak child she once was, the child that would run to her parents, crying desperately and looking for comfort in her mother's arms.

She'd become an adult and fighting battles to safe those precious to her, made her realize, one day, that she was now the one to take care of her parents, in a way, and not the other way around anymore. The day she realized that truth had been the day she found herself being lonely.

Eventually, while Sasuke was on his journey, she'd come to spend time with her childhood friend - luckily, apart from missions, and it did. her good. So, as time passed, she memorized all those years she'd spent by his side, how they'd supported each other, no matter how hard times were, and suddenly her heart had started beating faster whenever she'd met him.

It was then, whenever she'd spent time with him in her free time, apart from working at the hospital, that she learned about real love.

Looking back at her old self, she had realized that her love for Sasuke had been nothing more than a crush she'd held on to for far too long, torturing herself by doing so.

But with Naruto, she'd never found herself sad or lonely. He made her laugh at any given chance, he cherished her in so many ways - with him it would never become boring. Naruto was a caring person, that showed his feelings openly instead of relying on a mask to hide his emotions, just like herself. Sometimes that was what brought her over the edge, but there was hardly a perfect couple out there, right?

The cheering crowd releases her out of her paralyzing thoughts, and Sakura looks up at the top of the Hokage Tower, up to where she finds the love of her life, with the new cloak of the Seventh Hokage decorating his back. Despite the great amount of people that had gathered around the Tower, she knew that he was looking only at her - he would find her anywhere, even with thousands of people surrounding her.

His eyes shined along with the sun and his smile was as happy and proud as ever.

Seeing him at this point of their lives, she couldn't be more proud. From the first day they'd met, he promised her to become the Hokage, and today was the day he fulfilled his promise and Sakura was nothing but sparkling with utter joy and happiness.

"Congratulations," she greats him with a warm smile that made his blood boil with primal love.

He opened her arms once he reached the threshold to their living room, and welcomed her with a warm embrace. "How was your first day at the Office?"

Before answering her question, Naruto made sure to greet his wife properly by closing the last distance between their lips with a hungry kiss.

"Lot of stress, actually," he mumbled between their kiss, "but nothing can keep me from meeting my two girls," he smiled, reaching out his hand to let it rest on her growing belly.

"How do you know it's a girl, Darling?" Sakura laughed, "Anyway, as long as the kid has your hair color I don't care about the gender, though."

Remembering her past, it hurt him to hear those words from his wife, his long - life love, and he looked up, staring right into her beautiful apple green eyes.

"I'd be happy if it had pink hair, though," he said dead serious, "It's beautiful and I wouldn't love them any less just because the color of their hair." A smile touches his lips, another promise made that he would held.

Sakura saw the smile on his lips, the sparkles in his eyes and she fell in love once again with the man in front of her, her husband, her Hokage, her Naruto.

With closed eyes and a smile that joined his own, she whispered, "I love you, so so much, Naruto.