One word. That's all it took to break her. That all it took for anyone to break really, but this was different. This was something that wouldn't happen to other people, to normal people. It was the unthinkable. Sakura Haruno did not break quite as easily as everyone else, but she was more fragile than most people knew. See, Sakura was just an ordinary girl, in an ordinary school, in an ordinary town, but Sakura was born with a gift, one she didn't like. Sakura, unlike ordinary people, could see visions, and these visions are what broke her, she saw other peoples deaths. It was only of people who were close to her, sometimes it was the people around her.
What finally broke her and shattered her into a million pieces though, is that she'd predicted her own parents death, and she could do nothing to stop it. People stopped talking to her after that. They all thought Sakura had killed her parents, but that isn't true. She tried to warn her parents, tried to warn everyone it was going to happen, but no one believed her. Sakura was only 10 when she lost her parents. After that, people started to avoid her, call her names, freak, murderer, alien, inhuman being. Sakura hated to be called this, she didn't want to go through life being the only person everyone hated. She was alone now, she'd watch the only other person in her life be driven to suicide. She didn't want to become like Orochimaru. No, Sakura Haruno wanted to be a normal, free-spirited teenage girl. But she couldn't be, not after what she saw, what she witnessed. After seeing her parents get killed, something inside Sakura had changed. She wasn't a caring free-spirited little girl anymore. She had become depressed, with drawn, and secluded herself into being a loner. When she made it to High School, Sakura wanted to start over, but nothing ever goes the way you want it to.
First day of School.
The bright light coming through her curtains didn't help with her pounding headache, something she always got after having a vision. As Sakura finally decided to wake up and get ready for the exceedingly long day that was ahead of her, she stopped infront of her parents bedroom. She never had the heart to clear it out. After their tragic deaths, Sakura refused to leave and live with some estranged family member she didn't even know. As Sakura was getting ready for the day, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her pale skinny body looked even worse than it had at the end of the school year last year. The shaking had become worse, and she knew it from the malnutrition.
Shaking the thoughts from her mind, Sakura finished getting ready and hurried out the house. Popping her ear buds into her ears, she turned her music up on her iPod, and headed off to school. Looking around her as she walked, Sakura took in the sights that had changed since the last time she walked through here. As she was walking, she caught a glimpse of brown, yellow and crimson hair, right before she walked into them. Sakura got knocked back, yet another vision assaulting her, and she screamed out as she felt the pain. It was new, she'd never felt the pain of someone dying. Sakura felt someone shaking her, but she was still stuck in the vision. As soon as the vision was over, Sakura saw three people staring down at her, and she immediately wrenched herself free of the woman's grasp, and noticed the two boys. One held a neutral expression on his face, the other had a shocked look. Sakura, being the timid type of person she is, turned and ran off, towards the school.
Sakura didn't stop running until she was at school. She had to stop by the gate, to catch her breath and think over what had just happened. As Sakura leaned against the wall, she remembered her vision. She'd seen the red haired guy, sand, blood, and worst of all she could see and feel the woman being killed. It felt like Sakura's skin was being burnt. It was enough to freak Sakura out. Sakura looked around her, and saw the three from before headed her way. Sakura didn't move, just stood where she was. Everyone ignored her, most of the time. Before the three could get to her, the bitch squad surrounded her.
"Look, it's the freak."
"Why are you here again freak?"
"Did you come to scare us again freak?"
The three from the road didn't know what to do, they didn't want to get in the way, but they didn't want to see some innocent girl get bullied. In the end, Sakura managed to get away from the bitch squad and ran off to the library, where she spent most of her free period and first hour in. Sakura finally mustered up the courage to gather up her stuff and head to first period, she ran into the blonde. This time however, the blonde saw her first.
"Woah, you don't watch where you're going do you?" asked the blonde.
"I do, I've just been distracted lately…"
"Oh, is that why you were screaming bloody murder for two minutes before finally looking up at us?"
"N-no…"
"I should introduce myself." The blonde said, holding out her hand. "I'm Temari Subaku, Nice to meet you."
"I'm Sakura Haruno." Sakura said, shaking Temari's hand, and wincing, as more pain from the vision assaulted her.
"You ok?"
"Yeah.. Hey, um, Temari? Can we talk after school?"
"Yeah, sure, I need to get to class anyways."
"Me too."
"Well, see ya later." Temari replied, a smile on her face, as she kept heading in the direction she started in.
When Sakura got to class, everyone was sitting their own little clique groups. As she slipped in and handed her late slip to the teacher, Sakura noticed the only available seat was next to the red head from the road. She noticed he had a sad look to him as she sat next to him. With the bags under his eyes, you could tell he rarely slept. He was wearing a slipknot t-shirt, much like the one she was wearing, with a maroon colored long sleeved shirt under it. He had on baggy Tripp pants with chains coming off of them, and connecting to other chains or parts of the pants. She could help but stare at him, he was like some strange angel that fell from the heavens. He had his head down, making the crimson red hair of his fall partially into his face. As if he felt her looking at him, he slowly looked up and over at her. When she saw his face full on, she gasped at the kanji on his forehead. He smiled sadly at her, he knew what she was looking at.
"Are you okay, from earlier?" He asked in a monotone, slow talking, nearly quiet voice.
"Yeah, sorry about that."
"That's okay. What made you scream like that?"
"You'd think I was a freak, if I told you."
"Want to hear a secret?" He asked, leaning towards her slightly, the chained on his pants making noises.
"Sure."
"Everyone thinks I'm a freak. It's because of my tattoo and personality."
"That must suck."
"I'm used to it. You get used to it real quick."
"I still haven't got used to it yet." Sakura said, pulling her knees up to her chest and hugging them. "I've been called a freak since my parents died."
"Why is that?"
"Promise me you won't freak out?"
"Not much surprises me."
"Well, not only did I witness them get killed, but I had a vision of it happening, weeks before it ever happened."
"Oh, how long has that happened?"
"I think I've had it since I was born, but I only remember getting them since I was maybe four, or five."
"Does it run in your family?"
"I wouldn't know, I didn't know anyone other than my grandmother. My parents disowned their family." Sakura said, minutes before the bell rang. "I suppose we should get going then. Oh, my name is Sakura Haruno. It's nice to formally meet you."
"Likewise, my name is Gaara." He said before he walked away.
Sakura didn't have any other classes with Gaara, but the first day didn't set your classes in stone. As Sakura headed out to meet Temari, she ran into Karin, Ino, Sasuke, and the bitch squad. Sakura just looked down, trying to be invisible, but it didn't work. She was circled and the name calling began. Sakura managed to weasel her way away from them and ran to the bathroom. Sakura stood infront of the mirror, she hated to do it, but it was her own form of punishment for herself. While she was looking at herself in the mirror, Ino walked in, and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the glint in Sakura's eyes.
Sakura watched Ino walk into the bathroom, and she knew Ino could see the glint in her eyes. It scared Ino how Sakura didn't even flinch when she punched the mirror and it shattered, cutting her arm and hand. Ino backed herself into a corner as Sakura turned around and walked out the door. Even the bitch squad took a double take, Sakura's expression making them silent. Gaara watched everything happen. It also took him a minute to notice the blood in her black t-shirt and pants, though it stood out against her skin. When Temari saw her walk out the front doors, she started to walk towards Sakura, but stopped short as she noticed her youngest brother was following her. Temari didn't even notice all the blood that was dripping onto the ground. Gaara eventually caught up to Sakura, and grabbed her arm, not caring much about the blood all over her.
"Sakura! What happened?" Gaara said as he held onto Sakura's arms.
"I-I, Ga-Gaara, hel-help me." Sakura said, right before she passed out.
"GAARA!" Gaara heard his sister call out from behind him. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure, she just passed out!" Gaara said as he caught Sakura and pulled her closer to him.
"Is that blood?" Temari said, finally getting a good look at Sakura.
"Yes. I don't know what happened. Temari, what should we do?"
"Let's get her to the hospital. Are you okay to carry her?"
"Yes, lets go!" Gaara said, as he pulled Sakura into his arms and stood up to follow his sister.
They ran to the hospital, Gaara following Temari. Kankuro caught up with them when they rushed past the school. When they ran into the hospital, no one was in the waiting area, and they had to pound on the door to the back room to get anyone to even pay attention to them. Sakura was then taken from Gaara's arms and placed on a stretcher. Gaara stood, watching Sakura be wheeled away, with a look on his face that his siblings had never seen before. He couldn't explain it, but he didn't want anything to happen to this girl he just met today. It was odd, he had no reason to be feeling like this, but he couldn't help it, he had to protect her, had to save her from not only the people around her, but also from herself. Gaara didn't know if he was ready for that type of responsibility, but he was willing to give it a shot, as long as she would respond to him.
"Come on Gaara, let's go wait in the waiting room." He heard his sister say.
"Someone should call her parents. Let them know what's going on." Kankuro commented.
"You can't," Gaara said, walking to the waiting room and sitting down on a chair. "Her parents were killed when she was ten, she's been living on her own since they were killed."
"How do you know that?" Temari asked, looking at her brother, who was still covered in Sakura's blood.
"She told me, said it was the worst thing she ever had to witness." Gaara replied as he closed his eyes.
Sakura was stitched up, and given a blood transfusion. Dr. Tsunade, her head nurse, and boss, scolded Sakura for doing something so dumb. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were allowed to visit, and were told to watch out for Sakura, for as long as they were her friends. Sakura was allowed to go home after staying the night in the hospital.
Two months later
November 26th.
"Gaara wait up!" Sakura said, running out of her house to catch up with said redhead.
"Hey, how are you this morning Sakura?" Temari asked.
"Oh, Temari, Kankuro, I didn't see you two there. I'm doing good."
"Your eyes are red again, did you have another vision?" Gaara asked, looking over at Sakura.
"Huh? Oh, no, I was drea-" Sakura started to say, but was stopped as a vision took over.
"There we go, she's having another vision." Kankuro said, as they all stopped around Sakura.
Gaara grabbed Sakura, pulling her to him as she started to shake. That was something new for them, Sakura had never started shaking before. Gaara muffled her screams as they started to pour out her mouth. It took about ten minutes for Sakura to come out of her vision, and by then they were all late for school. Sakura collapsed into Gaara's arms, and started crying.
"What's wrong? What did you see?" Temari asked as she crouched down by Gaara and Sakura, who had collapsed onto the ground.
"M-my own. I S-saw my own de-death." Sakura got out between sobs.
Gaara looked up at Temari in alarm. Temari had a look of shock on her face, she didn't know where this new turn of events came from, but she didn't like it. Sighing softly she stood up and grabbed Sakura's arm.
"Come on, lets go home." Temari said softly as she helped Sakura and Gaara up. "You can tell us more when we get there."
"I'm going on to school. I have entrance exams today." Kankuro said.
"Go on, we don't need you, we'll be fine." Temari said, Gaara, Sakura and her already walking back to Sakura's house.
"Do you want some water?" Temari asked after they got Sakura sat down on the couch.
"No."
"Okay, can you tell us what you saw?"
"I-it was on the school f-field trip. The bus hits a slick p-piece of ice and s-smashes into the side of a m-mountain. Only the b-back of the bus though, a-and I'm the only pe-person who sits there." Sakura said, trying to control her breathing and stop crying.
"Then don't go on the field trip." Gaara said from beside her.
"I have to. You can't get a refund, and it was a lot of money."
"Don't sit in the back of the bus." Temari suggested.
"I have no where else to sit, I won't have any friends with me."
Gaara and Temari stayed with Sakura for the rest of the day. They didn't want her to be alone. Sakura decided to write a will. She didn't want her things in the hands of strangers. It just wasn't right. She'd worked hard for her things, she wasn't going to let them go to waste. Gaara like most of her clothes, and could fit them anyways, so he took them. Leaving her with some of his clothes in the end. Sakura left her house to Gaara as well. She knew he'd make use of it, and that he wouldn't ruin her parents bedroom.
Day of the fieldtrip.
Sakura was sitting in the back of the bus, by herself, curled up in Gaara's coat. She had her head against the window, listening to her iPod, watching the window fog up more than it already was from her breath. It had been sleeting the night before, and not all of the roads were cleared. The tour bus was headed up a mountain, on a very steep road. The bus hit a slick patch of ice, and the back of the bus, just as predicted, got smashed into the edge of the mountain.
Sakura got slammed along with the bus, and everyone heard her screams, though they couldn't muster up the courage to go check on her after the bus had stopped. Ino was the first to get up and run to the back of the bus, where Sakura was laying, her blood pooling around her slowly. A few of her ribs had broken, and she was gasping for air. Hinata, an assistant at the hospital, came and helped keep Sakura breathing and alive until the paramedics showed up. Sakura slipped into a coma not long after.
Gaara was watching the news, waiting for it to happen. When it finally came on the news, it was well past noon. Sakura had been airlifted to Konoha medical center, where Tsunade worked. Gaara knew it was too late, but he wanted to be with Sakura, so he rushed off to be with her. Sakura died two weeks later, with Gaara in her arms.
A year later!
A year had passed, and with some effort, Temari went back to school. Gaara did not. He stayed in the house, watching life pass through the window, the whole day. Sakura's death had left a deep scar in both him and his sister. They knew what Sakura's life had been like. They knew how full of misery and sadness her existence had been.
Even though her life had been awful, even with how much people hated her, and how they treated her, Sakura never stopped caring about others. She hadn't remained insensitive. She had always had visions about the death of other people, and she cared. She had wanted to help them, even if they pushed her away.
Gaara and Temari had both helped her. They had been there for her, during her most terrifying visions, and had done their best to help prevent the deaths, but they hadn't been able to save sakura from her own death vision, the most horrible death of all.
They couldn't forgive themselves, and they became depressed. Eventually Temari went back to school, she hadn't forgiven herself, she still felt responsible for Sakura's death, but she knew that she had to try and do something. Gaara didn't recover. He wasn't even trying. Temari grew worried, but she had no ideal what to do. Gaara wasn't even eating anymore. He was just slowly letting himself fade away. He was giving up. Sakura, after all, was dead, he'd failed in his duty to protect her, so why bother with a life that had no sense anymore?
Temari saw this with horror, and one evening, she just couldn't stand it anymore. She went in front of her brother and slapped him. That managed to get his attention, even if just barely.
"You can not, will not, give up your life like this. I've already lost Sakura, so don't you dare go leaving me too!" She screamed at him, holding back tears.
Gaara blinked, not answering immediately.
"Who the fuck do you think you are? Trying to tell me what to do with my life?"
"I'm someone who cared about Sakura, and will remember her, and honor her memory. Don't make the mistake that you are the only one who has suffered since her death and feel responsible for it. Sakura's life had been full of sorrow."
"I know that better than anyone Temari!"
"Then do something about it. Tell her story, tell the world what her life was like. Sakura has saved both of our lifes, many times. Thanks to her we're alive. We have a chance to do something with our lives. A chance Sakura didn't have."
Ten years later.
Gaara died in a car accident. He was with Temari and his two year old niece. Gaara protected the two with the sacrifice of his own life. He shielded them from the on coming car of a drunk driver. He'd died with a smile on his lips. Temari was left feeling even more alone than before, but she couldn't give up, not after coming this far, plus her daughter was depending on her.
Temari continued to work for the Sakura Foundation, the charity her and Gaara had created, an organization that helped and supported people in need, but especially people whose lives were threatened. Sakura's story had been told, written, and diffused by them. Temari did her best to ease her sense of guilt and loneliness. Sometimes she felt so depressed she wanted to kill herself, but she wouldn't give up, that would be the easy way out. She would face her destiny, with her head up, she wasn't sneaking away.
Temari's ending.
When Temari died a natural death at the venerable age of ninety, she felt oddly at peace. She felt as if she had, somehow, repaid her debt towards Sakura and Gaara. They had both saved her life, and so she had tried her best to use her chance at life, to make it a meaningful one, never forgetting what she owed them. In the end, that was the thing that really mattered the most.
Okay, so this is an old story of mine. It's a one-shot, and I didn't like how it was written before so I decided to rewrite it. It's a really good story and for me, it's a story that is both sad and heartwarming. I love this story to pieces, and it's strange because I normally don't like any of my story. I hope you all enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Enjoy!
Kohaku Kitty Bunji
