I'm over my depression session (ryme!) that I was in during the last two chapters of 'Protection' Yay! I guess my life isn't perfect but ot's pretty darn great. My friends, I'll just do what they're doing to me. When they insult me, I'll insult them. THank you so much for all those kind comments I got from everyone. I appreciate it so much, that I want to rewrite/add/change things about 'Protection' to make it better. This is just to hold you over and if people like it, I'll continue, but I'll work on protection even more.
Thanks so much you guys!
Discalimer - I do not own Naruto or anything closely related in any way.
"When you refuse me And does it make you sad
You confuse me
What makes you think I'll let you in again
Think again my friend
Go on misuse me and abuse me
I'll come out stronger in the end
To find yourself alone
And does it make you mad
To find that I have grown
I'll bet it hurts so bad
To see the strength that I have shown"
-Maroon 5
Prologue
"You really are annoying."
The words still stung. They lingered in her mind, every second, every minute, every day. She could not simply shake them off. They would always be there. They would always sting. She began to the face the truth no matter how upsetting or tearful it may be. The words would always be there and they would always hang on his own lips because he would always feel the same way about her. He thought of her has an annoying little girl.
They had met years ago. He had said those very same words almost two years ago and she still thought of him and those words often. She still felt the stab of them when he said them so abruptly and shattered the still silence after she had finally opened up to him. She had finally said that she loved him for the hundredth time, but this time she had thought she really meant it.
She thought she did.
Something else was also lodged in the back of her mind as well. But most of the time it was overlooked when she thought about that night and that bench years ago. It was a mere 'thank you' and she always held on to it, but most of the time the only thing that she kept referring back to in her mind was those words. 'You really are annoying.'
Maybe if she had thought more often about his thanks, she could've prevented a whole lot of things. Like the day she snapped.
She refused to cry or even smile to anybody but Naruto, who seemed to always be there with an invitation to late night instant ramen parties. Most of the time, she felt like just crying, but she was worried that if she let the tears fall, they would never stop and not only would he think of her as annoying, but weak and insignificant as well.
She never meant for it to happen.
She never prayed or hoped that he would soon someday be back with her. Sometimes it startled her when his face…his words…came into the picture. This was unusual considering she had always had some sort of infatuation with him. That he thought was annoying.
She tried to save him when he left. She tried to follow, but Naruto got in the way. She did not like him in the way she used to like the Uchiha boy, but he was the only friend she had right now. Ino, she was another story. She was not a friend or a rival…just an acquaintance.
She tried not to be weak or scared or…annoying. She fought and trained and battled to escape his memory. She thought of him often during these times, but not in the same way she used to. Like at the Chunin Exam…she tried to fill her empty words with meaning so maybe he would listen when she called his name.
He did not listen.
Her friendship with Ino was broken up by him when they were just children. She still couldn't forgive him for that. At the time, she did not care that she was rivals with Ino from then on because he mere presence or the red glint in his eye drove her crazy enough to forget.
But now she remembered.
And she would never forgive him, look at him, and talk to him. She would treat him differently from everyone else. She would treat him like he was annoying.
Chapter One
Haunted
She had nightmares that night, like they were warning her something was going to happen. She felt lost for words when she tried to scream only because she did not want to. They were just nightmares, fragments of what she had been thinking about just hours before she fell asleep. She was thinking about him.
Haruno Sakura did not want to cry over a figment of her imagination. She did not want to scream just in case he heard her…just in case that he might think of her as even more weak and annoying because she was tearful over a dream. She often felt that way.
She called herself crazy.
He was never coming back; he would never hear her cry. But something forbid her from crying. She wanted to be worthy of his presence so she could shove it into his face how much she had changed. She wanted to be stronger than him, braver than him, and, for once, she wanted to feel his eyes burning the very back of her neck, wishing for her attention like she had wished for his for so many years.
She wanted to get him back.
Even if Sakura wouldn't allow herself to shout or cry, she whimpered softly. She had confused herself so much, the nightmares wouldn't go away. She wanted him badly, but she loathed him too. But it was always the same dream, everything she had ever done for him and then him leaving her with nothing but 'thank you' and those four words that had hurt her so much.
She hated the moonlight. It reminded her too much of him and that night. She groped for the shades and swung them, blocking the moon from view. She could still see it, looking through her window like his eyes looking through her. She felt invisible with him and even worse without, but she did not admit it, not even to herself even though she was thinking it.
It continued like this until morning, fighting the moon, debating with herself, seeing his face, his sharigan eyes. Sakura was glad to see the sunrise again and let the same, early light wash over her before standing again.
Sakura walked to her mirror, her eyes traveling from her scraped and battered legs to her abnormally sized forehead. She grabbed a chuck of her hair and felt where she had cut it during their Chunin Exam to save him. She missed it.
Her footsteps echoed endlessly on the wooden floor and bounced off the bare walls. She had no time for photos or picture frames. They would interfere with her work as a traveling medical ninja. If she had a picture of someone, it would be only of people she loved and she loved no one anymore. It was too risky for her.
She dressed. Her skirt was somewhat ripped and frayed so it showed her shorts. A heavier red sweater tied around the back of her neck.It was cold this time of the year, but she had no sleeves, just bare shoulders. Sakura examined herself in the mirror one last time, feeling the ends of her hair and crossing her arms. She tried to look fierce, but the look in her eye was still that of her old self and her face made her giggle slightly.
She hated giggling.
Sakura walked outside. Bitter swirls of wind slapped against her legs and she put her hands of her shoulders to protect them from the cold. She was with a new squad today, making sure no one stayed injured on missions. She was to meet them on the outskirts of the city.
"Sasuke."
She heard it from almost everyone she passed. They looked at her curiously as she walked by and then continued to whisper. Was he dead or something? A bit of panic rushed through her, book she shook the feeling off and kept on going.
"Yep, here again."
She heard it again. Muttering and chattering all over the place. Was he dead somewhere in Kohona? Even more panic buzzed through her and she quickened her pace. By the time the talking stopped, she was surrounded by emptiness. They would be somewhere around here. Then she saw them.
It was a group of four people. One very small boy, a trainee she presumed, badgered an older girl and a boy, probably just past their teen years. And then there was a boy with raveny-colored hair, his arms folded across his chest. He stood with some sort of pride on his face his feet were spread apart. He stood apart from the others, a frown painted across his face.
"Sasuke…" she breathed.
The name she had never spoken before in almost six years felt good rolling off her tongue. She kept her lips parted so her mouth became dry and her voice cracked. One of the men noticed her, Kaio, she knew him.
"Haruno Sakura," he spoke like an elder man, but his face seemed childish as a smile played across it. "This is Sei," he said gesturing to the youngest boy. "He's tagging along. And this is Akumi," the girl nodded, but nothing else. "Sasuke here is of the Uchiha clan…maybe you've heard."
Sakura did not look at Sasuke or even show any sign of noticing him. He, however, looked at her and began to speak, but he cut off by shouting.
"WAIT!" A boy with bright, blonde hair waved his arms in the distance and galloped at full speed towards them.
Sakura sighed as he slowed down beside her and started panting, trying to catch his breath.
"Naruto…what are you doing here?" Sakura placed her hands on her hips.
"Protecting you from this traitor," Naruto snarled at Sasuke who scoffed.
"Who?" Sakura fooled.
Sasuke looked quite taken back because Naruto had clearly pointed to him and Sakura had looked his way. She was ignoring him. And it made him surprisingly angry…and jealous.
That's when everything flipped.
I'm not too pleased with it, but it was just so I could have the satisfaction of posting something for everyone who has been so kind to me these days of despair I was going through that just sucked away all my creativity.
Traveling medical ninja - I don't know what the heck that is, but I needed something so bam. My friend helped.
By the way...who is Sai? I hear he's interfering with SasukeSakura fics. I guess I'm not that far into Naruto to know who he is.