Shattered Pieces
Written by Tsumirei

Chapter 1 – This Heart

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

A/N: This is a rewrite of the original Shattered Pieces! If you want to read to old version, feel free! But the rewritten version will be longer and more descriptive. :D Also, Sakura and the gang are around 19-20 years old.

It's been so long since I've seen him. I remember all the tears I had shed after...I remember the blank stares my reflection returned when I looked into tranquil waters or my glass mirror. I remember almost leaving my village in pursuit of him...and I remember almost killing myself. The feeling of love has been gone for so long...and all I've done is remembered when and dwelled in the past. Will my heart even allow me to love again? All he's done is hurt me...

I stared at my reflection, dull emerald eyes staring back into my own. Time has been moving slowly for me the past six to seven years. Sure, I've trained under the Godaime Tsunade, become the most renown medical nin in the village, become one of the top ANBU, and worked as the most requested doctor at the hospital, but all my accomplishments aren't enough to please me. Because of an incident that happened six years ago, it seems that a lifeless doppelganger has taken place of the true me, and my real mind and heart has been encompassed by endless confusion and sorrow. People may think the incident caused the most selfishness I have ever shown, but they don't understand.

Love is a double-edged sword. It brings love and sorrow, like an hourglass of time filled with sands softened with love, yet hardened with sorrow.

I sighed and closed my eyes, leaning back on my chair. It's been seven years, and I still can't get over it. The image of that day always remains plastered in my mind. But what nags at me, are his words that are plastered into my memory and into my heart forever.

"Sakura...thank you."

I wish I knew what he was thanking me for, perhaps that would have made me a happier, yet still very lonely, girl. I opened my eyes and looked into my mirror again, the same dull emerald eyes staring back into my own. I sighed, and played around with a random lock of hair.

"You can't dwell in the past, you know. You need to wake up."

I remember telling him that when we were both alone. His attitude still showed that he was still living on the night of his clan's murder. I know that his attitude towards life is totally acceptable; I mean, his own idol, his own blood, killed off his whole family! Sometimes, just sometimes, a person needs a guiding star, or that shinning light, to guide them towards the right path, perhaps even out of happy little dream world and into reality.

How hypocritical I sound. I told him to wake up from the past, but here I am dwelling in my own past. But it seems that remembering all of this has woken me up and given me a reality check.

Time seems to have been revolving around me so quickly, while I revolve around it in slow motion. It's been so long since I have seen him; it's amazing that I still remember him clearly and perfectly. However, what's more amazing is how I can still laugh and smile.

...Okay, so I admit that all my smiles and laughs are fake and just there to reassure my friends, but at least I can throw out a pretty believable ones out there.

It's just hard to truly laugh and smile and my heart was taken away.

Okay, rewind. My heart was taken away?

Well, not literally, because then I wouldn't be here to living and breathing! I mean, that when he left, he took my heart with him. I had loved him so much...I truly loved him, that when he had left me, when he left everything behind him for his own selfish desires, he took away the only love I knew.

The years after his departure had been some hard living. My smiles were fake (but they were totally believable after a few months of hard work), and my laughter just put heavy weight on the air. My once lively emerald eyes seemed to be faded, and the happiness was replaced by an unmistakable glint of sadness. My closest friends, Naruto, Tenten, Ino, Hinata, Lee, were first to notice. It didn't surprise me when they tried to cheer me up continuously when they saw me, but they had stopped doing it so obviously when they realized it had no effect on me. However, I could still catch their hopes in bringing back the old me when I listened between the lines.

But everyone, including myself, wonders...

How can I bear all this pain?

Easy. Through a million shed tears, a million and one fake smiles, a million and two heavy laughter, and an infinite number of torn hearts.

...That didn't make sense. But the point was, in reality, I can't bear the pain, but I had become so indifferent to pain and sorrow that my mind doesn't necessarily make my heart ache.

It's amazing, right? How a brokenhearted girl can wait forever for a lost love.

I was walking down the streets after my long shift at the hospital, my eyes drooping from extreme fatigue; the peaceful nighttime setting didn't help much with that, though. Being one of the most requested doctors at the hospitals had its disadvantages. Because of my expertise and ability for healing ninja, when I wasn't on a mission and working on a hospital, my waiting list was longer than anyone else's. I was about to turn left at an intersection when I heard my teammate's loud slurping. I smirked; even from a far distance, I could still hear my teammate's bad manners around ramen.

I walked towards him, and silently took a seat next to him. I allowed him to finish before playfully punching him across the head.

"Oh! Hey Sakura-chan! Late shift today?"

I gave him one of my fake smiles, and nodded.

"Yes, a few ANBU squads returned from A-Rank missions, and some were quite injured. On top of the ANBU, a few genin refused to follow their sensei's orders, and got into a mishap."

Naruto smiled at mention of the troublesome Genin.

"Let me guess, was it Konohamaru's squad again? His squad seems to have picked up on his old ways."

I smiled (fake of course; A/N: From now on, when Sakura smiles, just assume it's fake, okay? xD) and nodded.

"Yes, but I think it wouldn't have been that way if you weren't such a troublemaker back then. But I guess nothing has changed, you still find enough mischief to go around this village, even if you're busy planning missions with our squads."

He gave me his goofiest grin, and paid for his seven bowls of ramen. He turned around and faced the calm streets, his cerulean eyes gazing up at the stars.

"Did you get to spend the day with Hinata?"

Naruto smiled once more, and closed his eyes.

"No, her cousin Neji just got back from a mission. And you know him and me. He's overprotective of Hinata-chan! And his Byakugan still freaks me out, even after years of working with him!"

I smirked at Naruto's childish antics; it seemed that nothing other than me has changed these days. I slowly got up, and Naruto stared at me for a few minutes, and smiled when he understood.

"See ya, Sakura-chan! Hope you don't wet your pillows again."

I turned to face him and nodded, beginning to walk towards my house in the serene night.

"I hope your pillows have been dry for the last years," was the last I heard him say before I was out of earshot.

Before reaching my door, I was interrupted by someone calling my name. I slowly turned around, slightly irritated that yet another interruption was keeping me away from my comfortable bed.

"Sakura! Hey! I know you're tired, but can we talk?"

I smiled. It was one of my closest friends, Tenten. I turned around and saw her quickly running towards me, her hair still in the usual panda-ear buns.

"You needed something, Tenten?"

She smiled, and took a second to catch her breath. I concluded that she must have finished a long spar with Neji again.

"Are you alright? I just wanted to make sure."

I sweatdropped, and nodded.

"You've asked me that last week. Nothing has changed, Tenten."

She smiled, and took off her headband, wiping away the sweat that had accumulated on her forehead. I could tell by the glint in her eyes that there was a double meaning behind her question. I sighed, and looked into her chestnut orbs.

"Yes, Tenten. I still think about him. But as Naruto would put it, 'my pillows have been dry'."

She giggled.

"So you caught on to Naruto's way of hiding things, huh?"

"Only for the past five years or so."

She smiled at my reply, but it soon faded when she turned serious.

"I know I've asked before...but why do you wait? You know you can have any other man in this village. There are probably more that deserve you. He doesn't deserve you, Sakura. It kills me to see you like this."

"I'm surprised you aren't dead yet. You've seen this for the past six years."

She sighed, and gave me another serious look. Apparently, she didn't like my joke.

"He promised. He's not one to break promises," I whispered.

Her eyebrow rose; I've never told anyone this part of the story before.

"He promised to come back to me. And I'll wait forever, even until after death."

"A promise that may never be fulfilled, and you are still willingly to waste your life away, just waiting?"

I stared at her, and smiled.

"I'll wait through the hottest summer, deadliest winter, dead spring, and monotonous autumn. I will wait through this pain. I will wait forever. Now good night, Tenten."

She sighed in defeat, and politely gave me a friendly wave goodbye.

"Good night, Sakura. Pleasant dreams."

I turned around, and began walking towards my home.

"She's fallen kilometers deep..." was the last thing I heard before walking out of earshot.

I finally got home without anymore interruptions. After I changed into my comfortable and warm pajamas, I stared at the stars through my bedroom window. Staring at them gave me a peaceful air, and it brought me the only hope I could find in my life. Even if they brought me painful memories, they were the only things right now that could make me feel at home. Every time I stare at their beauty, the memories of my genin days would return; as a genin, I would always wish that he were wishing on the same star that I was. As I picked out the brightest star, I wished all my pains away...
It's amazing, right? How a brokenhearted girl can wait forever for a lost love. But no matter how broken I am...I'll wait forever. I know that this unseen wound on my heart will heal...

Thanks for reading! I decided to rewrite Shattered Pieces, because I felt the original left so many things out. The original grammar and such of the original also nags at me for some weird reason. XD Till next chapter!