Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. All characters are property of Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement is intended.
Lost Hearts
Prologue
"WHAT?! They want you to do WHAT?!" Uzumaki Naruto yelled at the young kunoichi standing in front of him. Sighing heavily she grabbed his arm and pulled him into her office.
"Naruto calm down will you! You want the whole hospital to know?!" she hissed at him swiftly closing the door.
"Well if that makes you change your mind then yeah! I want the whole hospital to know! I want the whole village to know!" he shouted walking over to the window and gesturing with his arms.
"I haven't made a decision yet! You're not even listening to me!"
"They've built a huge, newly furbished hospital in Suna and they want you to move there and be their head medic and take part in some stupid programme too! Isn't that what you just told me?" Naruto questioned, folding his arms and turning to face her.
Sakura sighed, "It's not some stupid programme! They want me to help train some of their future medics and help improve their health facilities there! Why are you getting so worked up about this anyway? It's not like they're forcing me! It's my choice, I can say no -"
"So why don't you?!" Naruto interrupted.
"Wha- I - Its ...I mean it's a...good opportunity for me to share my knowledge and help others..." Sakura replied biting her lip, trying to get Naruto to look at her.
Naruto turned to face the window and looked out at the village. The Sun was beginning to set, bathing the village in a orange hue. Villagers where returning home after a long day of work in the summer heat and shops where beginning to close. Naruto's eyes fell upon a familiar shop, one whom he loved all his life, Ichiraku Ramen. Whilst the rest of the village closed up for the night, Ichiraku remained open. Always open, knowing a certain blond ninja would waltz in any second. Naruto smiled whilst thinking of how Teuchi-san and Ayame-san would be waiting for him with his favourite bowl of ramen ready.
"I don't have to go if you don't want me to..." Sakura spoke, softly.
Naruto was taken out of his memories upon hearing her voice. He froze, not knowing what to do or say. He turned around to see Sakura standing by her desk, pulling the sleeves of her shirt into her hands and staring at the floor. Naruto stood, confused.
What should I say? He thought to himself
Should I tell her that I don't want her to leave? That I want her to stay here...with me?
Naruto looked down at the floor and gathered his thoughts.
"Naruto..?" Sakura questioned looking at him with pleading eyes, "If you want me to stay I -"
"No! " Naruto yelled, immediately looking up at Sakura.
"What..?" A confused Sakura asked.
"I mean, No, I don't...I mean..." he sighed, "Sakura-chan, this is a great opportunity for you! Everyone one in the village knows how great you are, so it's only natural that other villages want your expertise too!" Naruto answered with a huge smile.
"So I say go! If it's what you really want and what will make you happy then I'll support your decision!" He continued, lifting his right arm and giving her a thumbs up.
Sakura stood there speechless, she didn't expect this. Naruto telling her to leave the village so easily? Even being happy at the prospect of her leaving?
"So, you're saying that you'll be happy if I went?" Sakura enquired.
"Mmmhmm!" Naruto nodded, the smile still plastered on his face.
Sakura felt a tinge on hurt, she'd expected him to get angry, which he did, but allowing her to leave so easily, that was hard to take. After thinking a little she replied.
"Ok," Sakura gulped, "Erm, I leave tomorrow morning with Gaara-san." She lied, moving towards her desk chair and shifting a few papers.
"That's good, I'll see you then!" Naruto replied walking towards the door.
"Naruto." Sakura said.
Naruto noticed the seriousness in her voice and turned around to see her back towards him. Before he could reply she spoke,
"Promise me something will you?" She said, keeping her back to him.
"Sakura-ch-"
"Promise me that you will find someone to love and be with and for them to love you. Just the way you are," she said, quietly.
Naruto remained silent, shocked at what Sakura had said "Ok? I don't want you to be alone when I'm gone. You're going to need someone to look after you and scold you and put up with your idiocy, and I don't think Sasuke-kun has time for that!" she joked.
"Sakura -chan wha-?" Naruto started.
"Just promise me yeah? It's not good to be alone and not have someone there for you, who understands you and comforts you! I mean look at Sasuke-kun, he has Karin and they seem so happy! So promise me that you'll find their happiness to!" Sakura finished, turning around and giving Naruto the same huge smile he gave her a few minutes ago. Naruto stood frozen, staring at her face, unable to forge a reply.
Noticing he hadn't answered, Sakura softened her smile and quietly said, "Please?"
Naruto's gaze fell to the floor once again, his vision was beginning to blur and before Sakura could notice, he closed his eyes tightly, smiled widely, and promised forcefully.
Sakura left that night, with Gaara, Temari and Kankuro and a few other Sand nins. The only people s
he told, Sasuke, Karin and Ino, along with Tsunade were also there to send her off.
She knew Naruto would keep their promise, he always had. She only made him promise such a huge thing, as she was almost certain that they wouldn't meet again, that was until Tsunade got in contact.
Sakura stood facing the entrance of her old village. She gulped a few times and felt her legs going numb. Her heart started to beat fast and her breathing quickened, it wasn't until Temari walked passed and placed a hand on Sakura's back that she came out of her stupor.
"Hey, you're back home!" Temari grinned.
With a half hearted smile Sakura replied, "Yeah, home."
Ok so this is my first fanfic, I had this idea in my head, and I wanted to see if it'll work out. This is only the prologue so I can understand if its not as interesting.
But please rate and review so I can see if I need to improve!
Thank you for reading :)