Disclaimer: i don't own naruto, which is quite obvious seeing as how if i did sasuke would fall madly in love with sakura and itachi would be mine cuz i love him to death! i scare me...O.o
i'd just like to state this is my first fanfic even tho i like writing, but the thing is no one ever reads what i write so please dont judge harshly T.T
oh, and anyone who can draw nicely, could ya do me a favor? i've been dying to see a shikamaru and sakura pic!
also, this song isnt quite so long, but i get so many frickin' ideas when i listen to it and it elongates, so i'm gonna spread it out in two chapters
ENJOY!.
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In my hands
A legacy of memories
I can hear you say my name
I can almost see your smile
Feel the warmth of your embrace
But there is nothing but silence now
Around the one I loved
Is this our farewell?
Looking back on all the times we shared, I didn't realize how much he meant to me, how comforting his presence was. Even when Sasuke rejected me, I couldn't help but rely on him to lift my spirits.
Flashback
'Go for it! He'll definitely say yes this time!' inner Sakura encouraged.
'Ok, I can do this.'
"Hey Sasuke, want to go out and eat something later?" I asked, my voice filled with hope, but laced with uncertainty. After all, those times, you don't expect me to be fully confident, right?
"No, I don't have time. God, you're so annoying, maybe if you focused all your attention on training you might get somewhere, but you refuse, instead you bother me." He said in his cocky way, arrogance dripping in his voice. But I don't take notice to that because I like him too much.
"I'll go with you, Sakura-chaaaaaaaaaan! We can get ramen!" Naruto practically yelled in my ear. As if I wanted to go out with someone as annoying, loud and obnoxious as him! Not to mention the guy who'd one day make me deaf!
Yelling at him for interfering with my personal moment, I hit him over the head quite a few times (that'll leave a bruise), but I couldn't help the small smile that graced my lips at that instant.
End flashback
I loved how he used to say my name, it was like music to my ears, how he elongated the suffix at the end just to make it sound even more annoying than humanly possible (with him, ANYTHING was possible).
His goofy, naive smile played in my memories over and over until I had to scream out the pain I felt for not being with him when he needed me. It was like his smile was a dangerous weapon when all he had in mind was innocence.
It was all coming back to me at once. The smiles, the name calling and worst of all, the hugs!
Flashback
"Naruto! How many times do I have to tell you not to hug me!" I yelled, punching him (sending him soaring through the air with my monstrous strength smiles wide
teeth sparkle Gai-sensei style)
"but Sakura-chaaaaaan, I LOVE…" his voice slowly faded so I couldn't hear the last word (or couple of words).
end flashback
I never told him how much his hugs meant to me, and he'd never notice the red patches on my cheeks when he pulled away (mostly because he was flying through the air).
After I had punched him and he went flying away I hoped that when he said 'I LOVE…' it would continue to be '…YOU!' and not '…ANNOYING YOU!'
Countless times, he said to me that he loved me, but after all the stunts he pulled, I would refuse to believe so.
But I loved him.
Here I am now, among other ANBU, surrounding the man who grew up with a dream to become hokage, a dream to be the bets shinobi in all of konoha and be respected for it.
The man I loved.
Silence. Nothing, no words were exchanged between the groups of people as Tsunade-sama told me of my orders.
Tears were evident in my eyes as I looked around to see if everyone had heard the ridiculous order, but to my shock and horror, others either nodded their heads in consent or talked about the hideous being before their eyes.
I refuse to shed tears that would prove I wasn't being strong. And I had to be. For him.
Sweet darling you worry too much, my child
See the sadness in your eyes
You are not alone in life
Although you might think you areLooking towards him; I saw beyond the kyuubi, which now decided to make its grand entrance, to the man whose fears were confirmed that no one in the world actually cared about the man that he was on the inside, but for the animal that was sealed within him at birth.
The sound of despair that came from his human voice made me want to search for the person that DID care, and for that I knew I could trust Iruka-sensei.
But looking at him now, I see him and Kakashi-sensei trying hard not to look in his direction. In fact, they looked in every OTHER direction! Staring at no place in general, I know, but looking at him wasn't an option for them.
'cuz they know they'll feel guilty and try something they'll eventually regret!' inner Sakura screeched, tears running freely down her face.
'because they know they can't do anything even if they wanted to.' I corrected.
All the hateful words of the people around me started spinning in my head, as if being rewinded and played until I had to fight back the urge to sob.
"why don't you get lost? No one wants you here!" Ino screamed, but tears were gracefully making their way down her face. Chouji stood next to her, putting his arm around her in a comforting way.
"you're a danger to us all!" shouted Ten Ten. She had the nerve to be looking smug. I understood why Ino would have said something like that (actually, not really, but it would have made more sense) because Ino wanted to protect her newly born child.
But what right had Ten Ten to tell him he was not needed here?
"maybe not for yourself, but think of the others in this village and their safety." Tsunade calmly stated. It made perfect sense to every other, although you could tell some might have wanted to word it a little differently.
I couldn't control myself. I felt suffocated by all of these people. They didn't deserve anything they had, their high status, top ninja's, etc. they were HYPOCRITS!
Weren't these the people who had helped him during the gennin and chuunin years? What happened to human sympathy? Had that left them the moment they saw the beast? These people made me sick, and here I was, proud to be one of them. I felt sick to my stomach of ever having been proud to be these emotion-deprived maniacs!
It was bubbling inside me until I heard what Tsunade had said.
"SHUT THE HELL UP! ALL OF YOU! You say no one here wants him, well I DO! In fact, I NEED HIM HERE!" I stopped to catch my breath knowing that I had just shocked the life out of some of the people. Everyone stared at me like I was crazy, especially Ino and Ten Ten. Well, I wasn't. crazy, I mean. They were, for acting the way they were now!
Sasuke, who had been standing beside me, now moved a couple of inches in front and stared at me, surprised. I was trying so hard not to look weak, for Naruto. The tears so badly wanted to spill from my eyes, but I refused to let them yet again.
I was always praised for the way I could hide my emotions, but they would eventually build up until I had to let them out. And now was one of those times.
"I can't believe you people! You don't see what's on the inside, you're judging him because of the kyuubi, which by the way, isn't him! Have you forgotten all those times he helped us, gave us courage, how he never gave up! Have you forgotten that this is his home as much as it is ours! Are you completely oblivious to the countless times he tried to fit in, but all we did was push him away!"
by now, the tears were falling, of their own accord, in rivers down my face. It almost made me feel nauseous, but I continued.
"Had it been any of you in his place, he would have seen past the danger and helped you rather than push you away. YOU KNOW THAT AND YET…" but I was cut off by Tsunade who had a shocked and yet sad look on her face.
"It cant be helped Sakura. You know we're powerless to do otherwise." She tried to convince me. I wiped the tears away, looking at him again only to find that he was staring at me. Something indescribable was in his eyes; like a mixture of shock, surprise, anger and also happiness. Sadness would always be there.
Shock that someone had bothered to say such words for him.
Surprise because they had come out of my mouth. Everyone knew of my crush for Sasuke, but they didn't realize that when he rejected me on every occasion, that the crush seemed to fade, and I saw how much Naruto actually cared about me.
Anger that it hadn't been Iruka-sensei, who'd always taken his side on every other occasion in the past, because of their situations being similar.
Happiness for the simple reason that he knew that one person cared for him so much to stick up for him in front of the ANBU and the hokage.
And finally sadness, because the person/ people whom he'd expected most to commit this act of chivalry had not stepped up and done it, rather, they sat back and watched like he was something on TV that they couldn't control.
I may not have been there for him in the past, but now when he needed me most, I wasn't about to leave him to fend for himself. I was always going to look after him, because I loved him, and it didn't matter to me if he didn't know or if he didn't return it, as long as he smiled his sweet, innocent smile; and had hope.
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i really wanna know what you guys think so plz review!