Doll.

"We're looking after what?"

Sakura Haruno's mother once again smiled and gingerly held up the object in her hand. "Holly."

'Holly' was actually her late grandmother's scary porcelain doll. Elder Haruno used to spend her days collecting and maintaining her exceedingly large collection of these silent figures. That was the very reason that Sakura never ventured into that house where they resided. After her grandmother died and her dolls were sold off, Mrs. Haruno had managed to keep at least one of those.. Those demons.

"No." Sakura said flatly. She eyed the doll's milky skin and soft brunette ringlets. Empty and eerily cold eyes stared right back at her - almost hating. Sakura shivered and drew her charcoal hoodie closer to her body.

Her mother sighed dramatically. "Oh come on honey - look! It's not even real." She held the doll by the woollen-clad legs and gently started tapping the head on the kitchen counter surface. The woman smiled and triumphantly held out the thing.

"No no no," Sakura held up her hands to fend off the oncoming ringlets. "No way. Not even for a second, am I thinking about keeping that in my room!"

Sakura's mother's smile tightened and she waved the doll about insistingly. "Sakura, don't be so stupid. You're seventeen years old and most certainly not a child anymore. You will have Holly in your room, she can sit on that nice bit of space next to your pictureframe-.."

"NO WAY - THAT'S RIGHT NEXT TO MY BED!"

Lin Haruno winced at the volume of her daughter's voice. She set the doll down on the kitchen table and placed her hands on her hips, meaning business. "There's no space anywhere else for her," her tone was dangerous. "Think of your dear grandmother - she would have wanted you to look after something that meant so much to her! I wonder how she'd react today, seeing you behave like this..."

Sakura's eyes rolled. She hated it when her mother played the 'guilt' card.

"Fine. Whatever." The girl didn't stay to see her mother's happy reaction. Instead, she stomped through the house and went outside, slamming the front door hard behind her.

"God Sakura, you'll break that one day." She glanced up to see Ino leaning cooly by the Iron gate. Sakura walked down the garden path and onto the street. She and Ino began walking together.

"I thought you had homework?" Ino smiled. "Hey, why are you so red? You haven't been looking at porn again have you?"

"What the hell!" Sakura lightly swatted at her friend. "I'm angry, ok? And what do you mean by again? Naruto was lying through his teeth!"

"Whatever. So what are you so pissed about?"

"My damn mother." Was the monotone reply.

"What'd she do?"

"Convinced me into housing a demon," Sakura mumbled. Seeing Ino's puzzled look, she went into more detail. "Apparently she managed to get one of my Grandmother's creepy dolls. Mum then suddenly decided that she had no where to put it, so it has to go on my bedside table. How the hell am I gonna sleep at night, huh?"

Ino clicked her tongue. "Absolutely no idea. Sucks to be you."

"You're not very much help are you?"

"I don't see why you're so worried," Ino shrugged as they turned into the main road. "It's just a stupid doll. It's not alive or cursed or haunted by your Grandmother's spirit or anything."

Sakura nodded, she knew that of course. But it still didn't help the fact that dear old Holly, was going to be watching her sleep from now on. Sakura really wished she hadn't just realized that and instead, tried to listen to her best friend natter on about normal stuff, like boys and bands - not eerie dolls.

"I'm home now," Ino announced, breaking Sakura from her thoughts. "Mum wants me to help with a new shipment of exotic flowers coming in today so I can't hang out anymore. See you!" The blonde pigtail whipped from side to side and Ino jogged indoors, leaving Sakura to dwell further into her mood.

She trudged slowly around the shops in the market district for a little while, hands shoved in the pockets of her hoodie. Growing tired of browsing around without money, she wandered through quiet streets and roads until a familiar appartment block came into view. She made up way up the never ending stairs and soon found herself knocking a fist against one of the doors lining the walkway. Sounds of crashing and a long line of curses came from behind the door. It opened moments later to reveal a young man in nothing but black jogging bottoms.

"Yo," Naruto's eyebrows raised up into his sandy hair. "What's up, Sakura?"

"Can I stay here for a few days?" She mumbled, trying to hide the obvious blush she had from ogling at Naruto's tanned torso. He nodded and smiled sympathetically.

"Let me guess! Something happened at home again?"

"You know me so well." She muttered sarcastically and dumped her shoes by the door after closing it. "Wow Naruto, I didn't think this place could get any messier."

He groaned. "You're like old lady Tsunade, she keeps trying to give me suprise visits to see if I've improved on cleaning. That's why I took some time answering the door. I was comtemplating on whether to hide or not."

Despite her mood, Sakura giggled and flopped down on the worn out but comfortable sofa. Naruto didn't make any effort to put a shirt on, but sat down beside her. He reached across and plucked up a lukewarm ramen box and dug in.

"So come on, I'm on the edge of my seat here. What happened?" He poked her with a chopstick.

"Oh eww, there's pork miso on me now! And to answer your question - you'll have to give me that ramen."

His jaw opened as if she'd just slapped him. "Give you my ramen? Are you serious?"

"Totally," seeing his horror, she began to plead. "Aww come on Naruto! It's lunchtime now and I've had nothing! I haven't even had any breakfast because I stormed out without having anything!"

"Hmm there's not really much ramen left anyway. I could order chinese or something from this new place down the road, it's pretty good."

Sakura blushed and suddenly a wave of guilt washed over her. "No Naruto! Don't you dare waste your money on me!"

"No it's alright. I won't let you starve, you're one of my best friends and since you're living with me for the next few days - you'll have plenty of chances to pay me back!" He said triumphantly and snatched up the cordless phone which was nearby. Sakura sighed contendtedly and snuggled more into her seat. She decided that she loved this apartment - no matter how messy or unorganised it seemed. From the lumpy sofa to the wonky table, and the TV which always seemed to be blaring out. The atmosphere always seemed to be so warm and inviting. So unlike her own house which came with a long set of rules.

"Done." Naruto replaced the phone and used the remote to switch off the television. He turned towards the girl and regarded her with inquisitive eyes. "Spill everything."

She sighed, knowing that she wasn't going to get out of this - Naruto was too damn persistant. She was hesitant at first, but then found herself spilling out every detail about her horrible morning. When she was done, she waited patiently for Naruto to start laughing or make some kind of half-assed remark like Ino had done.

"What do you hate about porcelain dolls?" The question caught her off guard and she checked to see if he was smirking - he wasn't, which meant he was totally serious.

"Uh well, I guess I hate the way that their eyes are so.. Fixed. No matter where you go when you're in the same room as them, you always think their eyes are following you."

"What else?"

"Um. They're clothes are kinda creepy too. So neat." She said lamely, wishing that he would stop staring at her with those beautiful eyes.

"Go on." He chided, oblivious to her discomfort. "I get the feeling you aren't telling me the whole story.

"What are you, my mother? This is ridiculous." Sakura laughed uneasily and made a move to get up. Naruto was quick and had her pinned to the soft cushions in seconds, arms held above her head. He smirked and watched her squirm pathetically beneath him.

"I'm not letting you go," he murmered close to her ear. "Until you tell me exactly why you're scared of dolls."

Sakura felt her heart thump rapidly as his breath tickled her neck. God he was so hot! Why had she never noticed this before? With every breath he took, she could see his chest rising and falling silently. He moved away from her head and gazed down at the beauty. They locked gazes for what seemed like an eternity. And then he couldn't control himself any longer and closed the gap, touching his lips to her delicate ones. Her eyes fluttered closed and she began to kiss back, softly at first before it escalated heatedly. She wanted so desperately to slip her arms around his neck and bring him closer, but his grip was insistant and held. She was shocked as she felt a tongue grace her bottom lip, asking for entrance. Her lips parted more and let her own tongue out to play. Their tongues interwined and fought as they explored eachother's mouths, not at all taking much notice to the world around them. Not that it mattered anyway.

With one last teasing lick, Naruto broke away and smugly stared down at her. "Tell me and you'll get more."

Sakura tried not to laugh. "Naruto! You sound like a whore!"

"Maybe so, but don't deny that you enjoyed it," he whispered huskily. "Plus, I've wanted to do that for a long time."

"Pervert," she huffed. "But I won't deny that you're a good kisser."

"Damn right." He finally released his grip on her and leaned back, stretching and arching his muscles. Sakura felt her heart drop at the thought of Naruto's heated body no longer on her. However, after that kiss she felt refreshed and excited, though she'd never admit it.

"They're too perfect."

At her murmer, he glanced over. "What?"

"They're too perfect," she repeated louder, crimson lacing her cheeks. "Porcelain dolls. They make everything around them seem unimportant and dull. Especially compared to humans - they look tons better. I was in my Grandmother's house once, she left me for a bit alone in a room with a ton of them. I felt.. I felt as if they were watching and jugding me for who I was - because I wasn't perfect. I guess you could say," she paused. "They make me feel unneeded. I hate them because they're like that."

"Sakura..."

"I know! I'm stupid right?" Sakura squeezed her eyes shut tight. "That's what everyone says when I tell them about my fear."

"Look at me," she felt the sofa move as Naruto edged closer and hooked an arm around her shoulder. Hesitantly, her green orbs met his blue ones. "You aren't stupid - far from it actually. You hate porcelain dolls? Fine, whatever. Everyone's scared about something right? That's what makes us all human. Dolls are fine because they're all perfect and shit, but they lack life and feelings. They're just sat there and unable to move or think, because they aren't lucky to be alive like us. No one is perfect and that's the way it's meant to be. Sakura, I love you and you're totally perfect in my eyes."

Her mouth fell open in shock. "Wha? Say that again!"

"But that was a really long speech, I don't wanna have to repeat it again-.." He groaned.

"No, no," she said impatiently. "The 'I love you' bit."

Naruto's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to recall what he said. A moment later, his eyes widened and glanced anxiously at the girl staring intentedly back at him.

"You love me?"

He gulped, obviously never thinking that he'd ever be in this situation - even though he'd dreamt about it plenty of times.

"Y-Yeah." Now it was his turn to blush madly and look away.

"I love you too."

"W-What!"

She took advantage of his open mouth and quickly leaned over to kiss him, and again they engaged in a long session. A doorbell rang from somewhere and fully shattered the mood. Naruto smiled apologetically at Sakura and leapt of the sofa to answer the door. Moments later, he reappeared with steaming hot chinese cartons and set them down on the small coffee table.

They dived into the containers hungrily and devoured the contents - Sakura especially since it was her first scrap of food all day. To get revenge from getting beef miso sauce on her earlier, Sakura impishly smiled and flicked a little of her sweet and sour onto Naruto.

"Ouch, it burns!"

"'Kay mum, see you soon, bye." Sakura hung up and replaced the phone. She'd been living with Naruto for about a week now, sharing his food, his shower and even his bed. But no, they hadn't actually done anything just yet - they'd only just started to go out for god's sake!

Sakura sighed contentedly and spread herself fully out on the bed and lay on her stomach, legs dangling behind her. For now she was all alone and watching brainless daytime television on the small set in the bedroom. Naruto had left a few hours ago to train with Kakashi. He asked Sakura if she wanted to come with, but she was in one of those 'oh I really can't be bothered', moods, and was happy just staying in.

The phone began to ring out its annoying tone again and Sakura moved to snatch it up. "Hello?"

"Sakura," said a female voice on the other end. "How are you feeling?"

Sakura mused. "Uh, fine I guess Tsunade. How'd you know I was at Naruto's?"

"The damn kid marched into my office straight after he asked you to be his girlfriend. I remember he said you were there for a few days vivdly, right after he knocked a good year's worth of paperwork down."

"Sounds like Naruto," Sakura laughed. "So what's up?"

There was a pause. "Do you remember when I called you in a couple of months back for a routine X-ray to check on your arm?" Yes, Sakura remembered. About 2 and a half months back, Sakura had badly damaged her arm on a mission and ended up breaking various important bones. Even now, she could feel the strain in it.

"Yes, why?"

Another pause. "We need you to come in again Sakura, we need to talk about that X-ray. When are you available?"

"Uh, now's good I guess," Sakura listened to the reply. "Oh ok. See you in a bit then." She ended the call and furrowed her eyebrows. Tsunade needed to talk to her about the X-ray? She really hoped that there wasn't another problem with her arm again. It'd given her way too much trouble already.

She flicked off the television and lazily rolled off the bed to disappear into the joined bathroom and reappear minutes later, smelling of perfume. She changed her top and kicked on some sandals, before sauntering through the front door and making her way down the road to the hospital.

Naruto yawned and threw down his keys on the nearby kitchen counter. Closing the door behind him, he noticed that there didn't seem to be any lights of sounds coming from any of the rooms.

"I guess she must have gone out." He murmered aloud. Shrugging it off, he stripped himself of his clothes and stepped into the gratefully piping hot shower and let the refreshing droplets of water soothe his minor injuries. Kakashi was relentlessly mor tougher than usual on him today. Together they'd ended up training about eight hours.

Eight hours without Sakura! Naruto thought wistfully. Truthfully, he had no idea how he'd even managed eight minutes without the pink goddess. She was his drug and his drug, alone. After one taste, he kept going back for more.

Naruto wrapped the nearest towel around his waist and padded around his bedroom for clean clothes which almost seemed non-existent. Sakura had been constantly moaning at him for not being bothered and 'too careless' as she gracefully once said, complete with hand gestures. At last, he found a baggy pair of jeans and a comfortable white shirt. All of his boxers and socks seemed to have hidden, going commando wasn't really a problem for him though.

It was only until Naruto's head hit his pillow, that he heard a faint slam of the front door from downstairs. Yesterday, he gave Sakura a spare door key so he knew it wasn't some pervert intruder coming to rape him or anything. He heard slow footsteps as the girl slouched up the stairs quietly and slipped into bed next to him.

"Wow, you've been gone for ages," he whispered, facing her back. "Did they call you in to the hospital again for emergency shifts?"

At the word 'hospital', he felt Sakura tense up. She slowly turned and buried her head into his chest. "Mrrm."

"Hey woah my chest is wet! Are you crying?"

"No."

"Then wh-.."

"Naruto - please, I'm so tired. Can we just go to sleep now?" She ended his question abruptly and fell silent. Soon, her breathing became soothing and Naruto realised she was asleep. He gently kissed the top of the head and lay awake, wondering why on earth Sakura was behaving a little coldly to him.

I guess if she did go to work, maybe someone died on her table. And now she's sad because she thought she could have prevented it or something. He guessed. Yeah, that had to be right.

The morning seemed to arrive all too quickly and Naruto found himself awake with no warmth next to him. the other side of the bed was made neatly and looked as if no one had ever slept there before. On top of one of the many fluffy pillows, a small note was placed on it.

Naruto -

Sorry to leave so quickly, but something came up.

I've decided that I'll probably move back home today and get out of your hair. I'm too old to be freaked by some weird doll and I should learn to just accept the fact that she was my Grandmother's pride and joy. After all, I want to be able to live without fears and sadness. That's what everyone wants, doesn't it? They live from experience to experience, and expect to be alive the next day again, then they regret what they didn't get the chance to overcome.

I really do love you, you know. But if anything should ever happen to me - please, find someone like Hinata or Ino to love. I couldn't ever see you alone again.

Sakura xox

Naruto's eyebrows knitted together as he re-read the note over and over again. Why the heck did Sakura sound so, morbid? Talking about life and fears and regrets - it really didn't seem anything like her at all.

It was then that Naruto threw himself out of bed and located the nearest outfit he could find. He grabbed his keys and marched out the door and down the road to the hokage building. Maybe he'd get some answers out of Tsunade or something.

From the copper rooftop of the slanted building, Sakura watched silently as Naruto hurried to the north of the village. She waited a few moments, breathing slowly and enjoying the soft wind that caressed her tresses, she stood up and narrowly missed stepping on one of the many broken tiles.

"I love you." She murmured.

But she wasn't going to tell him that he was always, and always will be the only one important to her.

She wasn't going to cling to him and cry for being so weak and not being able to save Sasuke.

She also wasn't going to tell him that in about two months, she would have to start undergoing serious treatment, due to the disease that settled within her body

Because no one was a porcelain doll.