Beautiful
AN: Hi there my beloved fans. This story is different than what I usually write but I had this sudden urge to write it. Slightly based off Eminem's song Beautiful but also Only Exception by Paramore, both describe the relationship of Sasuke and Sakura, in my opinion. Thanks for your continuing patience and support, enjoy! VampChick24
Chapter 1
The sounds of bottles being smashed on the wall echoed through the house as a young girl cowered in the corner clutching her teddy bear and covering her ears trying to block out the screams and crashes as she heard her mother getting beaten; again. She winced and cried even harder when she heard the sound of the belt striking flesh; her father came home drunk again and somehow found out that her mother lost her job again. Her mother ran into the room, her face covered with cuts and bruises; some were yellowing already and her body was covered with new slices from the belt. She closed the door and locked it then gave a weak smile to the little girl and knelt down in front her.
"Sakura, you're still up? I thought you were asleep."
She said in a cracked voice as she wiped the tears from Sakura's face and gave her a kiss on the cheek, forehead, then ended with her nose. Sakura sniffled as she hugged her mother tightly; she never wanted to let her go. There was a crash from the other room, which made Sakura cringe and cover her ears as she heard her dad's heavy footsteps stomp towards them,
"Mommy, why is Daddy doing this? Why is he so angry?" Sakura asked in a confused voice. Sachiko brushed a strand of light pink hair from her face,
"He is a little stressed from work, sweetie. He will calm down soon, don't worry."
She said in an attempt at a reassuring voice but her expression betrayed her voice as she wiped the tears from Sakura's face and gave her a kiss on her forehead and ruffled her hair. Her mother's green eyes suddenly became troubled as the door began to shake from her father's fists.
"SACHIKO! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR YOU STUPID BITCH!" Katashi Haruno shouted behind the door. His voice was strangled and hoarse from yelling and thick from the alcohol.
"Sakura, listen to me. I love you so much and I am sorry for not being a better mother. I have made many decisions in my life that I am not proud of, and I know I am the farthest thing from perfect. But, I want you to know that I never regretted having you. You are the best thing in my life and I wish I were able to do more for you; I never wanted you to have a life like this, I wanted a better life for you, you deserve a much better life than this…" her mother paused and chocked back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. The banging from the door stopped momentarily and her mother continued:
"You are a beautiful, unique, and special girl; don't let anyone tell you differently. You understand me Sakura? You must be strong. Even in the harshest winter the cherry blossom tree will always bloom. Promise me that you will always be strong; in life your strength will always be tested. People will try to break you but you cannot let them. I love you Sakura. I know that you will do great things."
Her mother's voice chocked at the last part and she gave Sakura a sad yet loving smile that held regret in it. She handed Sakura her locket that had a small carving of a blossom on the back and in it was a picture of her holding a baby Sakura.
"I will always be with you my little Sakura."
She whispered in Sakura's ear then pulled back and with a smile took Sakura's small hand and placed it over her heart then placed her hand on Sakura's and closed her eyes. Her face became peaceful for the first time in a long time. Sakura was scared. She looked up at her mother's beaten face that was once beautiful and when she looked in her eyes, they were calm and had resolve and a hidden strength in it that made them sparkle. Sakura was confused but hugged her mom again and took a deep breath, she inhaled her mother as if preserving her scent of lavender for future years, her mom patted her head in a way that made Sakura feel safe, like nothing could hurt her when she was in her mom's arms:
"I promise Mommy." Sakura whispered as the bedroom door burst open and her father entered which made Sakura scream. His eyes were blood shot from the alcohol and had the belt in hand, which was already stained with her mother's blood:
"There you are you fucking bitch! I am not done talking to you!" he shouted in a drunken rage as he grabbed her mother by the hair and dragged her back into the hallway. Sakura sprang up and tried to help her mom but she was only a five year old girl while her dad was a big, strong man. Her father threw her mom by her hair into the bedroom and Sakura heard her moan.
"Mommy!" Sakura shouted as she went to go help but her dad slapped her out of the way and caused her to fall back and hit her head hard against the wall. Sakura felt the throbbing pain and saw the blood that was starting to drip down her back.
"Sakura, mommy will be all right. Its OK don't cry anymore. Your eyes are too beautiful to be clouded by tears."
Her mother wheezed as she coughed up blood and gave Sakura a weak smile and winked as her father kicked her in the stomach making her groan then become limp. Sakura's eyes were full of tears, she ran over to her mother and tried shaking her but she was not moving.
"Mommy, Mommy! Wake up please! Mommy I need you! MOMMY!" Sakura shouted as she shook her mom's body. She then felt a tug on her collar as her dad dragged her by the neck out of the room,
"NO! NO! LET ME GO, MOMMY NEEDS HELP! NO!"
"SHUT UP BITCH!" her father shouted and laughed crazily as he picked up her teddy bear and dragged her to the front door. He turned her around and sneered then, he began punching her and finished by slicing from one side of her forehead to the other. Sakura screamed in pain and crumpled to the ground as she wrapped a cloth around her bleeding wound, it looked as if she was crying blood the way the blood travelled down her face,
"D-Daddy, why? Why won't you help mommy?" Sakura whimpered as tears mixed with the blood, at that her Dad started laughing again; his face soon became distant then darkened with rage. He grabbed Sakura by her hair and pulled on it forcing Sakura to her feet, she cried out more as he took the bloody razor and sliced the pink hair so that it fell into a clump around Sakura and made her hair look like a boy. Katashi stood back and smacked her across the face so that she was once again on the floor, he then knelt and leaned in so close to her face that she could smell the alcohol on his breath,
"I'm not your father. I would never have such a weak freak for a daughter. You were a mistake. You are the reason why she is dead! You are the reason she changed. Get out of here! I can't stand those damn green eyes, the eyes of a failure and weakling. You will end up just like her, I guarantee it. No one wants a pink haired, green eyed freak."
He said in a sneer as he picked up Sakura by the neck and threw her out of the apartment then slammed the door. She looked shocked at the door and felt numb; she did not even notice the cut anymore. She soon heard a shout then a bang then nothing. She was only five years old when her life was destroyed by a single shot on a December night.
Sakura Haruno shot up from her bed in a cold sweat. Her breath was ragged as she clutched her nightshirt trying to still her racing heart. Her jade eyes wide with fear as she looked around, she took a deep breath and calmed down a bit when she realized it was a dream. Sakura is 17 years old and an orphan, alone. She has been with three families in the span of two years already. She has been tagged as unstable and has been known to go into cationic states periodically and would be unreachable; she would get in fights left and right because of her hair and eyes she would get picked on a lot. She got the nicknames 'Billboard' or just 'Freak' because of her scar, hair and eyes. Sakura for her whole life basically had to fight for respect which led to frequent visits to the principal office and the police station because of fights that started when she sees a guy mistreat a girl; it triggers a protective instinct that leads her to fight guys that are twice her size or multiple guys at a time. Sakura tries to hide all the pain and sadness she feels behind a cheery, tough exterior and tries to cover her scars from her past up by using makeup or long-sleeved shirts. She covers her scars not out of shame but as a way to forget, every time she looks at herself in the mirror each scar is a painful memory of her past, a past she wishes to forget.
"Sakura! Are you up yet? Its 7:15!"
"Yes, I just got out of the shower." Sakura shouted back as she wrapped her wet hair in a towel and began getting dressed.
"Naruto! Same goes for you to! Get up or I will take that stupid war game…"
"Its called Call of Duty ba-chan! And I have been up for five minutes" Naruto's loud voice shouted from his room, it was thick with sleepiness, seeing how he had just woken up a few seconds ago from Tsunade's loud voice.
"What did you just call me? I know you did not just call me old lady, if you did I will kick your ass." Tsunade shouted, and soon there were several loud bangs then one huge one which was followed by Naruto shouting in pain as Tsunade began hitting him with a large stuffed dragon.
"How can two people possibly be this loud all the time?" Sakura thought as she started getting ready all the while grumbling about how early it was and her newest loud family.
Tsunade is her newest foster mother who has slight drinking problem and a quick temper, and very sensitive about her age; basically the adult version of Sakura, minus the drinking problem. Tsunade is also the principal of Fiery High, which is the local high school in Konoha and being her foster daughter, Fiery High is now Sakura's high school. Sakura put on the red plaid skirt and the polo that had the leaf symbol on the breast pocket then put on the maroon colored sweater which thankfully covered the faint scratches and bruises from her past.
She blow-dried her pink hair that hung a little past her shoulders that was slightly choppy and full of split ends but still looked put together. She brushed it and put a black beret on and placed her bangs strategically to cover the scar that was a constant reminder of her past that haunted her every day. She examined herself in the mirror and touched the locket hanging around her neck and closed her eyes. A small tear ran down her cheek as she opened her eyes and quickly wiped the tear away and looked at the green eyed, pink haired girl staring back at her. From the outside it was hard to tell that she was broken, a shell of her former self; her scars are too many to count and too deep to ever heal. Although she tries to mask her pain by makeup her eyes always manage to betray her. If one looks deep in her eyes they can see all the pain and hell that she has been through, all the struggles that she had to face in order to prove her worth to everyone.
"All right let's get this over with." She muttered as she picked up her school bag, cell phone and iPod, then wrapped her red and orange scarf around her neck. She slipped on her black converses and walked out of her bedroom to the kitchen where she heard the usual bangs and shouts, mostly coming from Tsunade. When Sakura walked in she saw Tsunade filling out paper work while getting dressed and making coffee, while her foster brother Naruto who had a few red marks from the stuffed snake was shoveling down a large bowl of ramen and a glass of milk. Naruto Uzamaki is a year older than Sakura and was an orphan like her. Naruto was abandoned by his parents when he was only a baby and the only evidence that he had parents was a wooden carving of a fox with nine tails on a leather chord that he wears all the time and a letter addressed to whoever took him in, but it included no names or contact information. Since no one knew who the parents were or even if they were still alive; Tsunade adopted Naruto when he was 3 years old. She always jokes that it was the worst mistake of her life, that her life was a lot easier without him. Naruto is a hyperactive, prankster, ramen addict who although is not the brightest in school, he has his moments, though within a few seconds he goes right back to his pranks, and knuckle-headed self who has the unique ability to make anyone smile, one cannot help but smile when around Naruto, his smile and laugh is contagious.
Sakura came under Tsunade's care at the beginning of summer, and at first she and Naruto did not get along because when she first met him he said "Hi my name is Naruto Uzamaki, say you are kind of strange looking" he said in the way only Naruto knows how and to which Sakura responded with a swift punch to the face which knocked him right out. After that first meeting Sakura started warming up to Naruto, mainly because he wore her down with his lame pranks and jokes as well as his obsession with ramen but mainly it's because he had such a positive aura that one could not help but feel happy and trust the loud blonde despite his flaws. So now Sakura and Naruto have bonded to the point where they act like biological brother and sister instead of foster brother and sister, though Naruto still annoys Sakura to the point of insanity she loves him anyway.
Sakura sighed, she was not a morning person which was a problem because in this house mornings are generally the craziest and the loudest part of the day: Tsunade was chugging coffee (mixed with sake) and finishing paper work that should have been done five days ago while Naruto was furiously trying to finish his paper on the book he was supposed to read for summer vacation but, like always, he forgot and pushed it to the last possible minute:
"Weren't you supposed to write that paper on summer reading over the summer?" Sakura asked in a disapproving tone as she sat down next to her brother, whose blonde hair was slightly spiked yet somehow managed to look messy and shaggy like he had just rolled out of bed, which he had. He wore an orange and maroon tie, loosely, over a slightly rumpled white polo shirt that had the leaf symbol on it like Sakura's. His khaki pants were slightly rumpled as well and the bottoms hung loosely over a pair of black adiddas. His navy blazer was pressed and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows as he sat hunched over a notebook furiously writing down quotes from the beaten copy of Ichi Ichi Paradise; Sakura had to read it and cringes\d at the memory of it, it was one of the most scaring books she had ever read. He looked up at Sakura and his cerulean eyes narrowed in warning as he put his finger to her mouth,
"Hey, not so loud Saki. Baa-chan will kill me if she found out. Hey, can you help a brother out? I have no idea what any of this means and if I get a bad grade on this Ero-sennin will dock my entire grade down from C to D. I worked hard to maintain my C average and I can't afford it to go any lower."
Naruto whispered in a pleading, desperate tone as he gave Sakura the puppy dog look that was hard to resist because it was so pathetic. His normally tanned face was slightly pale from lack of sleep and stress; his eyes were wide from fear and desperation. Sakura grumbled and cringed as she gave in,
"Fine. I'll help you this time but next time you are on your own Kyuubi." Sakura muttered his nickname and gave him a summary of the book while he copied it down, she blushed many times but after summarizing one of the most disgusting and worst written books of the 21st century Naruto finished his paper and gave Sakura a huge hug.
"Thank you Saki-chan! You are a life saver, I owe you big time." Naruto shouted as Sakura wiggled out Naruto's bear hug and brushed herself off,
"Yes you do. I'll hold you to that." Sakura said as she finished her toast and soon Tsunade came back in with a stack full of papers in her arms. She looked at her two kids,
"What did Sakura do for you this time Naruto? Kuso! Look at the time, we have to go. Don't want to be late for Sakura's first day of school, oh come on Sakura look at least a little bit excited." Tsunade sighed as Sakura gave her the phoniest smile ever seen causing to roll her eyes,
"Fine, I'll take it, for now at least. Come on we have to go now." Tsunade shouted as she dropped her papers and frantically retrieved them all then pushed the two teens out of the house and into the car. As they sped toward the Fiery High Sakura looked out of the car window at the dark clouds that started forming,
"Of course it has to rain… the sure sign of a crappy day. Fantastic." Sakura thought miserably as she pulled her raincoat closer and put her earphones in and blasted music to block out Naruto's hyperactive blabbering and Tsunade's cursing at other drivers while running through red lights. Although she would have Naruto, it was still a new place with new people and no matter what she was still the new girl, the girl everyone automatically hates and avoids. Sakura sighed for what seemed like the twentieth time when she was a snapped out of her depressing musings by Naruto shouting at her and smiling. She took her headphones out to hear what he was saying,
"What did you say?"
"I said welcome to Fiery High the place where your spirit slowly dies." Naruto said in a joking tone. He laughed trying to make Sakura feel less nervous and it worked, but only a little bit. Sakura took a step out of the car and looked at the looming building in front of her; the school flag was hanging in the front and flapping from the wind. Students, all wearing the school colors of red and orange, huddled in groups and walked in with their friends; laughing and talking about a certain TV show that was funny last night. Sakura especially noticed this one large group of girls who were all giggling and huddled around this tall, spiked black haired boy who had an annoyed expression on his handsome face as he pushed the girls away from him a bit too aggressively in Sakura's opinion and walked into the school. Sakura frowned a bit at the action but decided to ignore it; she decided to try and have an uneventful first day of school, meaning she would not start any unnecessary fights. The nerves once again replaced her annoyance at the emo boy as she followed Naruto and Tsunade into the school. When she got into the school most of the kids looked wealthy and snotty as they gave Sakura the quick once over, frowned then turned away from her as if she did not exist and started whispering:
"I haven't even said one thing and already I'm getting judged. Fantastic. But do they have to be so obvious about it? Sheesh, it's not like I have a disease or something." Sakura thought as she pulled the hood of her red rain coat above her head to prevent more people from judging her and kept her head down as she shuffled down the hallway with Naruto and Tsunade. It had begun. The looks and gossip started as soon as she took her hood off and revealed her pink hair and jade eyes. The looks all said the same thing 'Different, strange, outsider, freak'. Sakura took a deep breath and pretended not notice the stares as she followed Naruto who showed her to her first class.
AN: So there is the first chapter. What do you think? Like it? Have potential? On another note, a new chapter of Princess is on its way, so there is something to look forward to! Anyway, you know the drill and may your pens and brains remain sharp!
Yours truly, VampChick24
