Hey peeps, this is my first fanfic so go easy on me...but I hope you like :)

I don't own Naruto le sigh.

Trapped in the Mouth of Madness

Three Truths

Sakura Haruno reclined in an open field watching the stars twinkle in the Konoha late night sky. Although her body was broken, the result of receiving a chidori and rasengan blast simultaneously, and she was desperately gasping for air, her mind was filled not with thoughts of her imminent death, but rather memories. She thought back to when Team 7 had first trained under Kakashi-sensei, wrapping those happy memories around her like a warm blanket. But those happy memories were hard to hold onto when Death drew nearer to claim it's victim, and easily faded away to be replaced by the more painful memories of her chunnin days. After the Kage Summit, Sakura had become an emotional mess. She had realized three ugly truths: she loved Naruto, she still loved Sasuke, and she was destined to lose both.

Although Naruto believed that she was lying when she finally confessed her love for him, she really wasn't. She had finally come to understand that Naruto was a very important person in her life. He was more than just a teammate, and she didn't love him like a brother. Now that he had matured somewhat, she was able to see all of the qualities that made Hinata admire him so much. Those qualities had made her fall for him, and she was ashamed for how she treated him when they were still gennin. Perhaps that shame was what held her back from convincing Naruto that her confession was true.

You deserved his rejection, a dark voice whispered from the back of her mind.

"How many times did I reject him?" Sakura asked aloud.

When she saw Sasuke about to kill the red haired member of Team Taka in cold blood, she knew she had to stop him. As she saw the boy she had loved as a child transform into an unrecognizable monster, she knew the only way to ensure the protection of her village and her team was to kill him. However, her sense of duty quickly crumbled when her opportunity arrived, and all of the feelings that she had thought were long buried had resurfaced and stilled her hand from taking the fatal blow. Her hesitation had nearly cost her life. As much as it shamed her to admit it, Sasuke still didn't return her feelings and had made an attempt on her life twice in one encounter, but that didn't make her stop loving him.

But he'll never love you, the dark voice whispered sinisterly.

"He left me twice, I know he'll never come back," Sakura said.

The third truth had been the hardest to realize. She would lose both of the men she loved more than anything when they would meet on the battle field for the final showdown. Naruto had said that he would redeem Sasuke by dying with him, ensuring the protection of the village and their bond as teammates. But what about their bonds to her? Didn't either one of them care about how lonely she would be with both of them gone? Apparently not, but she should have known better. When Sasuke had first left to defect to Sound, Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya. Both had left her alone, but she had hope to keep her inner demons at bay. Naruto's departure wasn't permanent, and she had spent that time to train with the Hokage and prove to both of her teammates that she wasn't the weakest member of Team 7. She had excelled in medical ninjutsu, and it had given her a purpose. She now had something to contribute to Team 7. She had gained a useful ability and kept hope for her team alive. However, now she had no hope. As she watched Sasuke defect to another enemy of Konoha and Naruto depart to learn to control the Kyuubi, she knew that her dream of a reunited Team 7 would never be realized. The next time the three came together, she would witness the fall of the two stars of Team 7, the Kyuubi Jinchuriki and the last Uchiha, and the permanent destruction of her world.

And now you're mine for the taking, the dark voice laughed manically in her head, and she covered her ears in a vain attempt to block it out.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she scrambled and failed to refute the sinister voice. Her silence only caused it to laugh at her harder.

That third truth had nearly destroyed her mentally. With her two teammates gone, her shisho comatose, and her sensei kept busy with his ascension as Acting Hokage and a declaration of the Fourth Great Ninja War, she had felt truly alone. To make matters worse, her actions during the Kage Summit had turned the remaining Konoha 11 against her. Her failure to keep her emotions under control had ensured the failure of the mission. Attacking them and failing to complete the mission on her own had cost her their trust, and they had alienated her.

Left alone with these truths her Inner Sakura had reappeared, but it had changed. The absence of friendship and hope, and the overwhelming despair those three truths had instilled in her had transformed Inner Sakura from the harmless reflection of her unconscious desires to an uncontrollable malevolent demon that threatened to take over her entire consciousness.

Remember that night I first reappeared? Inner Sakura mocked at her.