EDIT: I've decided to slowly go through each chapter and edit them. I wrote these in 2008, when I was still a middle schooler, so of course they're pretty bad. Anyway, enjoy the edits, and if you're a new reader, well, enjoy them anyway! (12/12/12)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Errr, I've decided to… quit 'A Boy's Life' for now. Don't kill me? I felt so bad when I got a bunch of e-mails telling me that people added my story to their favorites after I decided I wasn't going to continue (for a very long time). I'm starting this new fanfiction, so don't be too harsh on me .
School starts for me in a few days, so expect some slow updates. I'm entering high school, so I'm not sure about the workload. :P
CHAPTER ONE
It was early on a November day. The sun's first rays shot over the mountains, turning the clouds a bright pink. The first of Konoha awoke to a cool and foggy morning. As the sun rose higher into the azure sky, the village slowly came to life: the common folk trickled into the streets, the elders setting up their merchant stalls while the young ones helped them to the best of their ability. Thus began a new and normal day.
However, it was to be a not so normal day for Sakura. Sakura lied asleep in her small bed, unaware of the loud bustling of the marketplace she lived next to. It was not until her mother had stormed into her room had Sakura woken up.
"Oh, I told you! You never go to sleep when I tell you to! Its noon already—hurry and get up!" her mother fussed as she yanked the thin blankets off of the groggy girl. Slowly sitting up, she rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her mother harrumphed and stormed out of her room.
Sakura shuffled toward her table and looked into a hand mirror as she brushed her hair. She stared at her reflection: dull green eyes, limp pink hair, and a pale complexion—and not to mention, an unusually large forehead. As always, she sighed, set the mirror on the table, and went out to the kitchen to eat breakfast.
Sakura knew she was not a normal girl. What set her different from the others were her unusual pink hair and green eyes. Her mother, however, had brown hair and brown eyes—unlike Sakura, she looked normal. Oh, how she longed for a change to her appearance… She abhorred how the other children threw pebbles at her and called her horrible names. "You are simply unique," her mother had said one day when Sakura ran to her crying. Although this had not comforted her one bit, she quickly learned to put on a strong face because she didn't want to worry her mother.
Needless to say, Sakura detested her pink hair.
She didn't have a father to compare herself with—or rather, she knew of no father to compare herself with. Did he have green eyes? Pink hair? Sakura often laughed at the thought of it, but in the end, she would have nothing but a blank image in her mind. She knew nothing of her father. Whenever she asked her mother about him, her mother would sigh and look away. Over time, she learned to stop asking.
"Sakura, I need you to gather some herbs for me," said her mom, bringing Sakura out of her thoughts. "I've ran out of hornfire and I'm low on inkroot."
Sakura nodded and grabbed a straw basket from the counter. Her mother was a healer—they frequently had patients come in everyday. Often times, Sakura would watch her mother tend to the wounded and she would learn a great deal. Her mother sometimes let her fix small wounds; Sakura would often insistent that she knew how to do other things, but her mother would always shake her head. "No, Sakura—this isn't practice. These are real people," her mother would say. When Sakura wasn't watching her mother, she would be making medicine—pastes and oils—with gathered herbs from their garden or the forest that gated their backyard. Sakura knew nearly all the herbs there were, as well as the medicines she could create with them. She also knew exactly where to find them.
The straw basket hanging from her elbow, Sakura stepped out the backdoor, past their small garden, and into the forest. Pushing through the trees, she made sure to avoid tripping over thick tree roots and bumping into branches. A few minutes passed until she stopped before a small clearing in the trees. Among the grass and clusters of clovers were sprinkled patches of tiny crimson and black flowers—hornfire flowers. Sakura bent down to pluck them from the earth, but something else caught her eye.
Hidden behind a tree, a black haired boy laid leaning against a large tree trunk. He wore the clothes of a soldier: a navy cloak and black leather cuirass. She could tell he wasn't a soldier of Konoha—their uniforms were green. At first, Sakura thought he was merely sleeping until she saw the blood on his stomach and chest. She climbed through the foliage and quickly examined his wounds: arrow wounds, deep sword wounds… Sakura felt for his pulse on his arm. He was alive. Perhaps she could…
"I'll be back," she whispered. Sakura grabbed her basket and hurried back to her home, gathering tiny cuts on her hands and cheeks from the branches in the process. She ignored the stinging on her face, determined to return as quickly as possible.
Her mother had started growing a garden long before Sakura was born. She had planted many kinds of herbs—common herbs—that were very useful in her craft. Sakura picked a few from their places and snuck inside her house, making as little noise as possible. Her mother's voice drifted from behind a large white curtain that separated the patients' room from the rest of their small home. Good, Sakura thought, she's working on a patient. She found all the things she needed: a basin of lukewarm water, a white washcloth, strips of cloth, some bread, and a waterskin.
Carrying her heavy load, she made it back as fast as she could to the clearing in the woods. Sakura stepped around the tree to where the boy was, but no one was there. No sooner had she taken another step when she felt a cold metal pressed against her throat.
"Who are you?" asked a voice behind her. It was the voice of a young male, perhaps the same wounded soldier she had seen earlier. Sakura tried to move her head to see who it was, but the knife dug deeper into her skin.
"I… I'm S-Sakura…" she managed to stutter out. She heard him grunt—it sounded like he was struggling to breathe. His grip on the knife loosened.
"I found you here, wounded," she continued, cautious with her choice of words. "I am an apprentice of a healer."
He took the knife away from her throat and she turned around. He was about a head and a half taller than her. She could tell he was examining her pink hair, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she stared at his face. The face of an angel, she thought—impeccably smooth skin, a straight nose, perfectly shaped lips, midnight black hair that framed his pale face, sculpted perfectly as if he were a statue born of the most dexterous hands. But his moving dark eyes, studying her with such intensity, betrayed the accuracy of that metaphor.
Sakura set down the items onto the grass, moving slowly. She knew he was following her every motion with his eyes.
"What's your name?" she asked, glancing up.
Silence.
Sakura frowned.
He took a step toward her, but stumbled and fell to his knees. His breath came in quick, ragged gasps.
"Please, lie down," Sakura insisted. Surprisingly, he obeyed her without a word and fell back onto the ground, as if he had been struggling to hold himself up the whole time. Without hesitation, she dipped the white washcloth into the water-filled basin, twisted the dripping washcloth of the water, and gently wiped his face of sweat. Though she tried to not look into his eyes, his gaze made her feel uneasy.
"Why are you helping me?" he finally spoke.
"Do you think I would leave a heavily wounded man to die in the middle of the woods?"
"...Hn."
A few more minutes passed before either of them spoke again.
"Er," Sakura began. She blushed and looked down at her lap, the washcloth clutched in her hand.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Er, I need to tend to your wounds… They're quite deep, and I don't want them to be infected and—"
The soldier sat up, wincing from the pain. He removed his cloak and cuirass. Then he unbuttoned his bloody shirt and laid back down, his upper body completely bare. Sakura turned a deeper shade of red, but she dipped the washcloth back into the basin and began to wash the blood off of his body. In the process, she let her fingers brush over his chest and his well-formed abs. She had never been this close to a male before.
"You don't live near here, do you?" Sakura asked, knowing he probably wouldn't answer.
"No."
"Right." Sakura began to dab the oils around his wounds. "So where are you from, then?"
He simply continued staring at her. Great,she thought, maybe it's my pink hair. Stupid hair. Stupid.She sighed internally and started to bandage his wounds. Still silence. After she finished, she picked up a bundled cloth.
"Are you hungry? I got some bread for you."
He appeared completely fatigued, but he didn't make any effort to tell her. He turned his gaze to the bundled cloth.
"Your loss." Sakura undid the cloth and there laid six steaming golden biscuits. The look on his face changed immediately from indifference to ravenous hunger.
"Go on," she handed him one. Hesitating, he took it and took a small bite. The whole biscuit was gone in a matter of seconds.
"I already ate, so these are all for you."
"Why are you doing this?" He grabbed another biscuit from the cloth.
"I already told you. I spent nearly my whole life healing the injured. And I found you here injured. So I'm healing you. It's that simple."
Sakura filled her basket with hornfire flowers as he devoured the rest of the bread. She handed him the waterskin, and he took it.
"Sasuke," he said.
"Excuse me?"
"My name is Sasuke."
"Sasuke," she repeated, tasting his name on her tongue.
"I can't stay here."
"Oh, I know. Don't worry, I'll get mom to let you in our house, because we have a lot of beds—"
"I mean I can't stay in this town. It's dangerous."
"Dangerous?"
Sasuke looked around, taking in his surroundings. "I'll stay in the woods."
"You can't stay out here!"
"I'll be fine."
Sakura opened her mouth to protest again, but Sasuke gave her a sharp look. She decided to close her mouth.
"Well, I guess… Just don't move around too much or your wounds will reopen… And I'll be back tonight to check them, okay? I'll bring some more food."
"Hn."
Sakura emptied the dirty water from the basin and threw in the bloody washcloth. She gathered everything back into her arms, gave Sasuke one last look, and disappeared through the trees.
Author's Note: Okay, it's short. Whatever xD
If you don't want to waste your time, then don't read my author's note. If you want to find out about my summer, then you can. Lol. Oh yeah, and I turned fourteen like, three weeks ago :D
OKAY, so my summer was freakin AWFUL. My boyfriend broke up with me a few weeks ago and God, I went into a deep depression. Well, I feel loads better now, but I still can't find any inspiration to continue 'A Boy's Life'. I hoping this fanfiction will have a better story structure because when I look at 'A Boy's Life', all I see is a whole bunch of loose plot strings. I have big plans for this one, though. As you can tell by now, it takes place in a sort of medieval era. I'm working harder on character development this time, so the story will be clearer.
Well, hope you enjoyed it!
