Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Summer Heat: She was tired of her mundane life, until a strange letter invited her to an old bookstore she had never noticed before. "Dear Haruno Sakura," her eyes quickly skimmed through, until they widened with shock. "If you've thought about dying, but are afraid to do it alone, come meet us…"
Summer Heat
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Club
Light breezes flowed in and out, like little streams of water trickling down in search of something. A pale young girl stood on a rooftop, embracing these breezes that tickled her skin. The air tasted sweeter up here. It always did. Eyeing the bottom, where people were merely moving dots, the girl swallowed thickly.
'I could jump off, now, and nobody would know.'
She knew that wasn't true, but it was a good thought, anyway. Gently, her right foot shifted forward. Her body was swaying dangerously with the wind, and with one mistake, she would fall.
Suddenly, the door banged open and a loud shout disrupted the rhythmic breezes.
"Sakura-chan!" A blonde stumbled forward, looking to be in a hurry.
"Naruto," the girl addressed him, but took no action to move.
With a frown, Naruto questioned, "What are you doing here?"
"Enjoying the wind." Her response was simple and soft, almost lost in the wind.
A cast of doubt fell on his face, but then he lit up in an instant, all his suspicion and worry dissolved away.
"Oh yeah, I was looking for you, Sakura-chan! The Ichiraku's has a special offer, so I thought we could go there together!"
"Now?" The girl knew the answer, but she asked anyway.
"Yep!" The blonde nodded violently. His excitement was blatant.
Her thin lips gently spread to a smile. "Okay," she mouthed, and skipped toward the door, away from the edge.
. . .
Before she fumbled for her keys, she flipped open her faded black mailbox. Her hand dove deep to catch whatever it held. Without looking at the contents, she unlocked the door and went inside. "I'm home," she called out softly, and without waiting for a reply, she scurried up the stairs to her room.
Sighing, the pink-haired girl cast the mails onto her desk, and she fell to her bed. Looking up at the florescent lights made her eyes sting, but she never closed them. Dazedly, she tried to remember her day, but no memories sprang up to her.
After all, nothing exciting had happened (though Ichiraku must have been plenty exciting for Naruto) and her days were too mundane.
'Sometimes, I just want to give it all up,' she thought vaguely. 'Come get me, Death, and I don't even think I'll care.'
She breathed out another sigh. Why was thinking about dying so easy?
The thought of death must have crossed the minds of teenagers like her at some point, but she couldn't really believe it. After all, a carefree Naruto seemed incapable of thinking about it.
Slowly, the weary girl got up and reached for the mail. In a hackneyed motion, she flipped through each mail. Upon seeing a white letter addressed to her (personally, and not for things like mortgage payments), her delicate fingers tore the envelope without a second thought.
Gingerly, she unfolded the letter, and then began reading out loud.
"Dear Haruno Sakura," her eyes quickly skimmed through, until they widened with shock. "If you've thought about dying, but are afraid to do it alone, come meet us…" she trailed off.
A cold shiver ran down her spine.
The rest of the letter showed her an address of an old bookstore she had never known it had existed so closely in her neighborhood. Her heart quickened, but she convinced herself out loud, "I should go there to stop group suicide."
She was not going there to suicide with a bunch of people she didn't even know.
She was not going there to suicide.
Her heart didn't slow down, even after several inhalations of deep breaths.
Tomorrow, she will go see what this is about.
. . .
"Mom, I'm leaving," Sakura called out, and usually, she'd step out and close the door shut before she could hear a response. This time, she paused a little uncertainly, and then her heart sank when no response came.
Clutching the letter in her hand, Sakura tried again, "Mom, I'm leaving."
After a pause of awkward silence, a reply finally came. "Where?"
"I'm… going to the library."
That wasn't too far from the truth, was it? At least, she hoped not, and stepped out to the humid air. It was another hot day, and Sakura knew every day was a repeat of the same, boring routines.
This time, something would be different, and she was so sure.
After a five minute walk out of her tranquil neighborhood, Sakura stepped out into the small street of shops and stores. Her dull green eyes peered at every corner, every tiny building, and then they lightened upon spotting an old, worn-out bookstore.
How could she have not known that, when she had been living here for eight years? Sakura was quite a book fan, after all, and spent many of her nights up reading.
A small panic of nervousness shot throughout her, but she forced it down and stepped forward to the tiny, unnoticeable store. Her tremulous hands pushed open the door, but to her embarrassment, it didn't open. She had to pull.
A little chime sounded in the lazy summer morning, and a gruff voice welcomed her.
She stared at an old man, who looked healthy but in dire need of something cold, like an ice cream. He was sweating profusely, and then her eyes lowered to the counter. "Tazuna" it read, on a small piece of paper.
"Uhm…" Sakura had no idea where to begin, and was wondering if she should show him the letter.
Tazuna relieved her from asking an awkward question. "If you're part of that club, go on ahead upstairs." He directed a thumb toward the back, where a small set of stairs rested.
"A club?" she wanted to ask, but perhaps the old guy didn't know. Instead, she bowed and thanked him quickly and went up the creaky old stairs. The stairs were very narrow, and it barely fit her, but she didn't notice. Her mind was too busy running through the speech she had thought of yesterday, of why people shouldn't suicide.
There was, of course, the danger of her being convinced to suicide with them, but she chased away that possibility. Clumsily, she wiped her sweaty hands on the hem of her skirt.
"Why do summers have to be so hot?" she vaguely complained in an attempt to break free from her panic.
When she reached up, for it was a short set of stairs (though it felt like an eternity for Sakura), the nervous girl took a sharp gasp.
There was no door; the stairs led her immediately to a small room. She didn't feel prepared to face them, whoever they were. But upon her arrival, the strangers she had expected to meet turned out to be not so strange after all.
"Naruto?" she asked incredulously.
"Ah! Sakura-chan, you came!" the blonde boy grinned, like his best friend coming to a suicide group was the most natural thing in the world.
"B-but…" she was at a loss for words, so her hands frantically waved the letter in the hot, humid air. The tiny room was… cramped.
There were a few figures facing away from her, and one of them turned around. For the longest minute, Sakura's heart stilled. The summer heat was forgotten, and the chirping birds and the noisy children screaming and running outside went unheard.
A pang of panic shot through her, and she could only think, 'Oh, Kami…'
There, before her, stood Uchiha Sasuke, a boy who she had once confessed to.
But that was many years ago (actually just four), and he had left the next day. His whole family had moved out of the small village. Most people taunted her, and their snide comments had hurt her, but above all, her heart had broken into pieces.
Slowly, Sakura became aware of the others in the room and heat rose to her face. She blamed it on the summer heat.
"Hey, forehead! Snap out, will ya?"
Sakura groaned. 'Not Ino…'
Her eyes scanned the whole room and saw how everyone was familiar to her: Naruto, Sasuke, Ino, Shikamaru, Choji… even Sai whose name was the only thing she knew.
"Hah! I can't believe she fell for it!" the blonde girl laughed jeeringly.
"What?" Sakura snapped irritably. "So it was all a joke?" Her hand waved the invitation impatiently. One thing the pink-haired girl hated was being the victim of a certain blonde's joke. Well, there were many other things she hated as well, but at that moment, Sakura's fury went up, like the blazing heat that became hotter as morning shifted to afternoon.
"Actually…" Surprisingly, Ino bit her lip sheepishly instead of continuing her mockery.
This time, Naruto stepped up to explain, quite proudly, "Well, Sakura-chan, it was me all along!"
Sakura's fury instantly focused onto Naruto, who stepped back a little with a guilty laugh. "Uh… No need to be so scary…"
"Explain, Naruto!" The hot-tempered girl gritted her teeth.
"Actually, I had sent the exact same letter to everyone here in this room."
Her anger was great, but a cool wave of realization spread over her slowly. The bright green eyes widened in slow motion.
"You mean… you guys all came here to suicide?" It was too disbelieving.
Naruto shrugged, and everyone else just shuffled awkwardly.
"Hey, not like you didn't, Sakura!" Ino blurted out, unable to take the tension.
"No I did not, Ino!" Sakura spat out defensively, "I just came here to make sure that nobody did! In fact, I had prepared a speech to stop you guys!"
There was an odd silence that swept across the room. Someone spoke up softly, "I didn't think it was serious." That was Shikamaru's voice.
A guilty silence spread across the room again, like everyone secretly knew that that wasn't the truth.
Daringly, Naruto broke up the silence. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan! We're not actually here to suicide! That was just the bait."
'The bait to what?' Sakura wondered, but somewhere within her, she already knew the answer. Naruto, her dumb, but sometimes sweet (like now), friend had merely found a (rather strange) way to reunite his old friends.
The pink-haired girl sighed and muttered, "So then, Tazuna-san was right, huh? It's a club."
"Yep!" Naruto grinned brightly before her.
Notes: Another random inspiration. Please tell me what you think! Thank you.