New drabble! Courtesy of Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man." It's not the greatest song ever, and apparently it's been out on the radio for a while, but this came to mind when I heard it the other day.

Naruto sighed as he stood in a small park alone. The sun was setting, casting a calm, orange glow over the entire area that he used to love back when he came here with company. But he didn't notice the small park's beauty this time when bathed in the glow of the setting sun.

It just wasn't the same without Sakura by his side. He frowned at the thought of her. Just hearing or even thinking her very name hurt right now. He had her... he had Sakura Haruno. And then he lost her. He should be angry at the man who took her from him, but he probably had no one but himself to blame for this.

Sure, Sasuke returned to Konoha three weeks ago... and sure, Sakura had always had a major crush on Sasuke... but a month and a half ago, Sakura had decided to give him a chance. He asked her out on a date, as he often did, fully expecting another rejection. Instead, to his surprise, Sakura smiled at him and said "ok."

Those six weeks had been wonderful. Sakura became much more affectionate with him, and she genuinely seemed happy. He, of course, had never been happier. It appeared that he was winning Sakura's heart

Even better, when Sasuke returned, Sakura didn't instantly flock to him like Naruto half expected. Instead, she actually became more affectionate with him, her boyfriend that she still seemed to be happy to have. She would often reach out and grab his hand while they were walking around the village, or rest her head on his shoulder while relaxing at a park... Naruto was just starting to think that he didn't have to worry about losing Sakura now that Sasuke was back.

But reality smacked him in the face last night. Everyone was out in one of Konoha's most active night clubs, Naruto and Sakura included. Naruto stepped away to get drinks for Sakura and himself, and when he returned, he saw Sakura dancing with Sasuke with a happy smile on her face. She wasn't exactly grinding up on him or anything, but she was still dancing with Sasuke and seemed quite pleased about it.

Naruto was angry at first, but he caught himself before he did anything he would regret later. He left abruptly without saying bye to Sakura, Sasuke, or really anyone for that matter. He just wanted to get away. A knock sounded on his door later in the night, which he guessed was Sakura coming to break up with him. But it had been late enough that he could pretend to be asleep and not have to deal with it. When he woke up this morning, he avoided Sakura like the plague. Hell, he avoided everyone like the plague really. He wasn't ready to get dumped yet.

Narutp paused and looked on as a gentle breeze ruffled through a tree that he and Sakura had spent many afternoons comfortably lounging underneath. He really should be angry at Sasuke... but he wasn't.

Sure, Sasuke took Sakura from him... but it wasn't Sasuke's fault. Naruto had been so damn cautious about doing anything with Sakura. She was always the one who would have to reach out and hold his hand, she was always the one who had to instigate a kiss, and she was always the one that had to instigate any sort of affectionate display.

It's not that he didn't want to be the one to initiate something, but he had years upon years upon years of experience telling him that he wasn't allowed to do those sort of things with Sakura. The idea of being able to reach out and hold her hand without getting walloped was still a foreign concept to him.

If only he would've had more guts... As soon as Sakura agreed to give him a chance he should've bought her flowers and whooped and cheered at the top of his lungs so she knew how important she was to him. He should've been more affectionate with her in public, instead of worrying about her getting furious at him for any little touch... He should've just reached out and held her hand.

If he had done all that, he was confident that Sakura would not have been dancing with Sasuke last night. She was coming around to him, and she clearly wanted to see where their relationship could lead...but she got tired of waiting.

He didn't buy her flowers, he didn't hold her hand, and now the sexy, strong, feisty woman he had fallen in love with moved on... well... moved back to her first crush.

"When the hell did I become such a coward anyways..." Naruto muttered to no one in particular. He had built a reputation on being fearless, reckless and confident. Yet when push came to shove, all that fearlessness, recklessness and confidence was nowhere to be found when he was with Sakura. He could stare down the freaking jubi with an excited grin on his face, but he couldn't reach out and grab Sakura's hand.

"Of course you would be here. Kami I'm such an idiot. I can't believe I didn't think to check our spot first." An exasperated voice called.

"Hello Sakura." Naruto said in a sad tone. She found him, and now it was all officially going to end. He was going to pay for his timidness and mistakes.

"You know Naruto, when you take a girl out to a bar you're supposed to stay with her the entire night, or at least tell her when you're leaving." Sakura chided as she approached him. She was breathing a little heavier than normal, and her hair was sticking to her face. She waited for a response, but he didn't know what to say. Begging her to not dump him was a waste of breath at this point.

"I've been looking for you all day!"

"Ah, sorry. I just wasn't ready... but I understand."

"Do you?" Sakura asked with a quirked eyebrow.

"Before you do this... I want to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for never buying you flowers, for never holding your hand and for being so timid around you in public. I'm sure Sasuke will do all that and more for you."

"You think that Sasuke Uchiha is more likely to buy a girl flowers or show any public displays of affection than you?" Sakura asked with an amused look on her face. "You've met Sasuke right? He's our teammate that we spent our teens chasing after. Dark, broody, moody, but a good heart underneath it all..."

"I've met Sasuke!" Naruto groaned. "He's better with women than I am. He'll do everything he's supposed to as your boyfriend, I'm sure of it. He'll do everything I should have done."

"You're a real dumbass Naruto." Sakura sighed, although she was smiling. "First off, I'm pissed at you for running out last night, and normally, I would clobber you for it... but ultimately this is my fault, so I'm going to give you this one pass."

"Your fault?"

"My fault." Sakura confirmed. "I spent so much of our life fawning over Sasuke and being annoyed at you. It's not outrageous for you to see me dancing with the guy I used to fawn over and freak out. And it certainly doesn't help that we haven't been together for very long."

"You can't control your heart Sakura." Naruto replied, causing Sakura to roll her eyes.

"I seriously wonder how you function sometimes. Ok Naruto, first things first... let's make sure this never happens again." Sakura grabbed the back of Naruto's head and pulled his lips against hers for a long kiss. When she pulled away, Naruto had a shocked expression on his face.

"You kind of looked like that after our first kiss." Sakura giggled.

"Why did you kiss me? I saw how happy you were dancing with Sasuke last night. You're obviously here to dump me." Naruto sputtered.

"I love you." Sakura smiled softly at Naruto. "I still can't believe how quickly it happened... but it did, and I don't regret it. I decided to give you a real shot, and you had my heart within a couple of weeks. I love being with you, and I want to be with you for a long time. So, if something like this ever happens again, you now know that I love you, and I will never cheat on you. So instead of running away and avoiding me, you could simply walk up to me, your girlfriend, and talk to me."

"But... you were dancing with Sasuke. And you seemed so happy!"

"I was dancing with Sasuke because the guy was just standing in the middle of the dance floor as stiff as a board. He's never been overly social, and he's having a tough time getting readjusted to village life. So I got him to dance so he would loosen up. Also, girls are more likely to dance with guys who are dancing with other girls. A girlfriend would do him a lot of good!"

"So you were just helping him?"

"Duh. I have a hot boyfriend of my own, why would I want Sasuke?" Sakura rolled her eyes. "As to why I was so happy... how could I not be? We spent a long time trying to chase after Sasuke, and for the longest time I thought it was going to get you killed. Yet there we all were last night, partying in a bar and having a good time. We have everything we wanted when we were kids now."

"So... I ran away for no reason then..." Naruto nervously muttered.

"You did. And if you ever do it again, you can plan on spending at least a week in the hospital courtesy of my angry fist." Sakura said in an overly sugary tone. "AND now you have to make it up to me!"

"I'll buy you flowers!" Naruto said, hoping to appease his girlfriend.

"That's a start." Sakura smiled.

"And I'll hold your hand!"

Sakura held her hand out. "Better."

For the first time, Naruto reached out and grabbed Sakura's hand, not the other way around. He gave her hand a squeeze and breathed a sigh of relief. He thought he was going to get dumped, and instead he just got told his girlfriend loves him.

"Also, I love you. I think that should count for something."

Sakura leaned into Naruto. "That's better. But you still got a long way to go bucko. I wasn't kidding when I said I checked every inch of Konoha for you today."

Naruto nervously gulped. He wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do to make everything up to his girlfriend, but he knew for damn sure that he wasn't going to hold back anymore. He no longer had anything to be afraid of. Still... he needed something to make everything up to her.

"What about my free pass?"

"That's what saved you from getting your ass kicked from here to Suna." Sakura chuckled.

Naruto was certainly grateful for that. He tapped his finger on his chin as he tried thinking of something that he could do to make it up.

"Did I mention I'm going to buy you flowers? Lots and lots of flowers?"

Sakura sighed. It appeared her boyfriend had a long ways to go in the romance department. Not that she minded. She was quite happy with her man.

Fin! If you liked it/hated it/had any sort of opinion on it, then feel free to chime in via review!

Until next time (which could be sooner than one would think!)

-ND