Author's Note: In a moment of extreme self-pity, I put pen to paper and this is what came out. Okay, self-pity mode over, I literally spent half an hour on this so I'm sorry if it reads like it wasn't really thought through! I'm not actually a follower of NaruSaku but, as seems to be a recurring case with my spontaneous one-shots, it's just turned out that way. I hope I've done them justice for all the lovers out there (although I doubt it)

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the characters, as everyone knows :) But I do love them to bits


Naruto had once been used to being told he wasn't worth the effort it took to keep him alive. But he hadn't expected to be hearing the same sorts of things now, in his twenties.

He watched as his girlfriend walked quickly away down the street, her head of baby pink hair protected by an umbrella from the nostalgically unsympathetic sky.

Well, when he said girlfriend

He turned sombrely back into his flat. The candles on the small kitchen table were still flickering warmth through the room but by the time Naruto regained the capacity to think, they had long burned down to tiny stumps and drowned themselves out.

Naruto found himself curled around his knees on the floor, and stiffly got to his feet in the dark. He reached into the pocket of his trousers and slowly pulled out a tiny box, stared at it for a while, and suddenly, in a burst of frustration, he threw it across the room and dived onto the sofa, burying his head in the cushions.

Three years… Three years he'd been in a relationship with Sakura and… suddenly he's not worth the effort? This one, single issue overruled each and every positive quality he possessed?

Naruto knew he had issues, but he tried his best. He tried his god-damned best to overcome them for her sake. He could grin and bear it, but he knew Sakura couldn't. He never wanted to hurt her. Since Sasuke's death on the battlefield all those years ago, Naruto had been plagued with nightmares, whispers which tormented him by day as well as by night. He could often be found huddled on the ground with his head clamped between his hands, screaming. All because of the voices which told him, day in and day out, exactly what his mistakes had been, and exactly what could have been done to save his friend, but wasn't.

The voices belonged to many people, the most prominent of which there were three. The first was his mother, Kushina. She had a sympathetic viewpoint and aimed to comfort her beloved son but her words caused Naruto to feel just as much guilt as those of the more vocal Itachi Uchiha. Clever Itachi Uchiha, who had everything mapped out in advance, but who relied on the wrong person to carry out his plans. His voice was bittersweet, since he tried not to blame Naruto for everything and yet the regret, the disappointment was clear and that was only the second most troubling voice.

There were many, many voices, those of almost every person he knew, who condemned Naruto's failure, these were the ones who told him constantly of his mistakes, who rubbed the answers in his face, too late. But the voice which troubled him most, was that of Sasuke Uchiha himself. What drove Naruto to the severest of outbursts was that Sasuke could have helped to save himself, if only he hadn't been so stubborn and confided in Naruto sooner, these confessions which Naruto could now never escape from, could never use to save Sasuke.

The voices, and the severe anxiety which they caused Naruto grew more damaging every day. Sakura had stayed by his side through thick and thin, had promised that she'd never give up on him, no matter what. She was certain she could find a cure for his madness.

But Naruto had just learned, that even promises made by your best friends, by your lovers, could not be trusted. Everyone had their limits, and they were all too quick to promise more than they could achieve.

Sakura's patience had finally reached its limit. Naruto's constant struggle and the strain it put on them both had broken her down until she barely recognised herself. She couldn't take it anymore. Why should she be punished, why should she live in hell for something she'd had no part in.

On one level, Naruto agreed with her. She deserved to live a happy life which he obviously was not providing. On the other hand, where did that leave him? If even his closest friend couldn't survive his madness, then who could? He was doomed to live a lonely life, because of a mental breakdown he couldn't have prevented.

The fault lay with neither party. Sakura didn't deserve to be dragged down and neither did Naruto deserve to be abandoned, but what else could have been done? He wanted the best for her, so he had to let her go.

On his sofa, Naruto scoffed at the ridiculous cliché and buried his head further into the cushions. He pulled his knees up to his chin and hugged them tight. One phrase echoed around his mind that night, lulling him into the tired, aching sleep which follows hours of painful, wracking sobs.

I'm not worth it.

I'm not worth it.

I'm not worth it.

I'm not worth it.

And all the while, the ring lay discarded on the floor, mocking him.


Author's Note: Review if it's worth it! (Ohoho, what an awful joke, sorry 'bout that!) I may make another chapter for this at some point, but at the moment defeat is crushing down on me and I wouldn't do it justice (self-pity no jutsu!) Thank you for reading :)

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