Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Naruto, I never have, and I never will. Thus it is a fanfiction!
Scrunch. Scrunch. Scrunch.
The sound of brown sugar being relentlessly pounded by her stainless steel spoon.
The original reason for her coming to the kitchen was to get some tea. She had craved the soothing warmth and sweetness of the liquid- her throat felt dry and neglected even though she had been steadily drinking water throughout the day.
She knew exactly why, though. This day, the last day of the year, made her think much more than she cared too.
About her past.
Sasuke! You lost Sasuke!
You burdened Naruto to the brink of insanity with your careless requests.
About how she failed, so many times.
You failed the exams that would have made you respected. Would have made you strong. You wouldn't be a crybaby anymore. You weren't strong enough to be Jounin. Not the first time, not the second time. There won't be a third time.
How every single one of her friends, even Naruto, had a significant other. How sorry she felt for poor Hinata- Sakura really had no idea how the beautiful raven haired heiress coped with the rash, all-over-the-place blonde Uzumaki boy. But they were obviously deeply in love. Sakura decided that she wasn't all that sorry for Hinata, after all.
Just looking at the way Naruto would softly stroke Hinata's flawless cheek and then gently pull her onto his lap during their daily lunch at Ichiraku's made her inwardly cringe, half in regret, and half in jealousy. Seeing Hinata quietly giggle and turn the colour of an over-ripe tomato, before kissing Naruto on his cheek and whisper in his ear, reminding him about their scheduled training session after lunch, was one of the sweetest things she had ever seen. Sakura had never thought of herself as jealous- she was always happy with what she had, never coveted what others had. But seeing Naruto and Hinata's easy, love filled relashionship awakened that extremely unpleasant feeling in her. She badly wanted to get rid of it, but the more she thought, the more she tried convincing herself that she was just as happy.
She still had all her childhood friends- Team 7. Minus Sasuke of course. He had been killed in the 4th Great Shinobi War. Surprisingly, she felt nothing. Not sadness, definatly not happiness. He caused so many people so much pain- she wouldn't let him carry on doing so even in death. So Sasuke had stopped affecting her in every way- the only time he even crossed her mind was when she glanced at her coffee table and happened to see the dusty photo of her team in their Genin days. Still, it did not bring sadness. Instead, it ignited a spark of hope. Seeing them as children made Sakura think of what Shikamaru told her one day over a game of shougi the two rarely shared. The rest of Team 7 except for Sakura (who was on forced leave) plus Shikamaru (also on forced leave due to his severely injured body, the cause for which he wouldn't mention, although he did keep mumbling "Troublesome women" under his breath whenever his broken collarbone pained him, Sakura suspected it had something to do with a certain blonde Sand kunoichi). Shikamaru had just claimed the second last of her pieces and she was in the process of loudly cursing the game when he had unexpectedly spoken
"Sakura?"
"Yes, Shikamaru?"
"Do you know who the king is?"
Surprised at the relatively strange question, she answered, "Well, I guess it depends on the context. It's the Feudal Lord to the citizens outside of Konoha, the Hokage to the citizens of Konoha except for the shinobi, for the shinobi it's the citizens of the village and of the country. As for shougi," she pointed a finger at her only remaining piece, "It's this little guy right here." Shikamaru chuckled softly.
"Very perceptive Sakura. But you mentioned the citizens in general."
"Yeah, so?"
"The king is the village's unborn children and the young ones. The people who have to inherit Konoha from us."
"Yes," She nodded to herself, "Yes, that's true." There was a moment of silence as Sakura thought about what Shikamaru said. Yes, it makes sense.
"But… there goes your king! Do better next time." Shikamaru said teasingly as he took her last remaining piece and declared, "I win!" Sakura never beat Shikamaru in shougi. Never had, and never will. But she was comforted by the fact that no-one ever had (except his dad!) but that didn't count.
Sakura reached across the table and poked him in his sensitive collarbone area.
"Oww! You're a medic –nin! Why don't you heal my damned shoulder!"
"I'll get Temari to do it for you. I trained her a bit last summer."
"No!"
Sakura smiled at the memory. The king was protected- the war was over. She had absolutely no right to be depressed on New Years Eve, no matter that all her friends were out having fun without her. She'd make a plan to keep herself occupied, and happy.
After what seemed like ages, she finally stopped stabbing the sugar pot, calmly scooping two and a quarter teaspoons of treacle sugar- oh, how she loved seeing it move, it always made her think back to the time when she was a little girl and was scared of the dark sugar that crept around in the pot whenever she wanted to scoop some, and how her mother chided her for being such a scaredy-cat, but the chiding was always followed by some sweet tea- and stirred, enjoying the scent of her favourite, chamomile tea. She took the cup with her, making her way to her living room. On her old, worn, purple couch that she refused to get rid of because it was so comfy. She sunk down into it, enjoying the softness. She closed her eyes, and was just about to take a sip off her tea when
Knock. Knock.
Who's at the door? To tell you the truth, I have no idea XD Anyways, this was originally intended to be a very long oneshot. Due to the fact that I stayed up until 00:32 to finish writing and publish it, I'm too tired to carry on. And I wanted it published on New Years. So it's gonna be a twoshot, maybe even the threeshot? Are those words? I dont know! This will be sakuraxitachi, Itachi's coming in next chapter I think. I will update tomorrow! (or rather, later today!) goodnight all and happy new year!
p.s I know the title sucks (I mean, 'Sakura's New Year'? How un-creative can you get? (shakes head) but when I think of a better one I'll change it! If anybody has an idea for me, please say in a review! oh, and review please! I've tried a different style of writing, want to see how it works out :) Thank you!
