Title: Leap
Summary: The thing is, Sakura, you don't always get a second chance. Sakura-centric.
Rating: K+
Author's Note: Drabble. Hurt/Comfort/Friendship and a tad bit of romance if you squint.
Standard Disclaimer Applied.
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Her life is screwed, but she just doesn't want to admit it. Things are changing, ever so quickly. It's like that slow-motion part of the movie, where the main character has an epiphany, and suddenly they're walking really slowly, but the world around them is speeding by really fast. That's how Sakura feels all the time. It's like everyone is moving on, and she thinks they're all leaving her behind to run after them; only she can't, because she's stuck in movie-mode.
And, after striving so hard to catch up, Sakura thinks that one day everyone's going to tire of her, and eventually forget. It'll start off with once in awhile questions of "Where's Sakura?" and then ultimately fade off, until they don't bother asking about her at all, Sakura imagines.
But that's the last thing she wants. So Sakura kills herself slowly, trying to hurry up. Her legs are cemented to the floor, but that doesn't stop her, and she continues forwards, dragging the blocks around her feet.
She's lonely and sad most of the time. She misses Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi. But she knows that if she keeps on moving forward, eventually (maybe) she'll catch up to them
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After three years, Sakura's able to punch craters into the earth, and it still isn't enough.
The day has come after so much waiting, and Sakura's heart is rattling against her ribcage with so much force, she's so sure that any second now it's going to burst.
Then, she's out. And there he is. Sasuke.
But…only, it's not him. Not really. It's not the same boy who would once jump in front of her and protect her from anything that came their way. Instead it's a different person, just someone who looks just like him, she thinks.
Sakura just wants to close her eyes and see the Prince Charming, but she doesn't get the chance to.
Because her eyes are wide open, and the next thing she sees is Sasuke's sword cut right through Naruto's chest, and suddenly, she can't breathe.
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The demon in Naruto is escaping slowly. She can see it. His eyes are bottomless pits of black, and when they look at her; they just tear a hole right through her heart.
She wants so reach him, she wants to be the person to bring him back, but she's not.
Instead she only ends up getting hurt, and suddenly all those feeling from her childhood (sorrow, loneliness, weakness) are rushing back all at once, as if they were only being held back by a dam, and they just broke through.
But, she reminds herself, that this is not what she built herself up to be. I'm strong, she tells herself. So when Naruto comes back, she doesn't tell him he hurt her, because, at the moment, she feels it's all she has to offer.
