Crossing the Line
DISCLAIMER: If I owned Naruto, Sasuke would be nicer.
(A/N: Sasuke is a bit different than he would normally be)
A depressed looking Naruto trudged into the Yamanaka Flower shop on a bright Sunday morning. "What brings you here, Naruto?" Ino asked curiously after a moment of watching the blonde shinobi slump around the shop. Naruto looked up at her and motioned her to come over. She walked over to him, concerned. As the months passed by, the twelve year old girl had developed a friendship with Naruto. Almost like she was an older sister. "What's going on?" she asked.
"I need some help..." Naruto said flatly. Ino nodded, motioning for him to go on. "Is there a flower that means 'I'm giving up'?" Ino was taken aback. Naruto had never thought about giving up as far as she knew. But he looked almost desperate. So she answered his question.
"There's no particular flower for that..." she began. "But I could probably make a bouquet for that." Naruto smiled softly. "Now, go get a leaf, a dead one." she said. "I'll take care of the rest. But one question before you go." Naruto looked at her. "Why do you need something like this?" she asked.
Naruto sighed and let his head droop slightly. "Well," he said. "It's for Sakura-Chan."
'Oh great!' Ino thought. 'NOW what did she do!'
"What happened?" Ino asked.
"You see," he said. "Today Sakura-Chan got kinda mad..." he explained, continuing on with the entire story. Ino's eyes continued to grow wider with every detail that Naruto listed.
-FLASHBACK-
Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were waiting for Kakashi to show up, as usual. "Say, Sakura-Chan," Naruto began, but was swiftly interrupted by Sakura.
"It's always 'Sakura-Chan' this! 'Sakura-Chan' that!" Sakura snapped. "I already hate you, so get the point!" Naruto visibly winced, and Sasuke, suddenly interested, began to pay attention. "Your problem is, you just don't know when to quit! Having no parents has obviously gone to your head! Because you think you can do anything you want!"
At the words 'no parents', even Sasuke flinched slightly.
"Get away from me! Just leave Sasuke-kun and I alone!" Sakura snarled.
"But Sakura-Chan!"
"SHUT UP!" Sakura yelled. "JUST GO DIE! I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"
-END OF FLASHBACK-
"When she said that, it felt like she stabbed me with a knife." Naruto said. "A serrated one."
"Oh...my god." was all Ino said. She shook her head, regaining her business tone. "Well, go get that leaf." she said. "This'll be free of charge, between friends!" Ino said, a fake grin on her face.
The moment Naruto left, Ino began throwing some flowers together.
An absinth, for the seperation and torment of love
Abor Vitae, for true friendship
Amaranth, to symbolize feelings that don't change
A yellow carnation, for disdain and rejection
A red Chrysanthemum, to say I love you
Heliotrope, for devotion and eternal love
And last but not least, a cherry blossom
At last, Naruto returned with the leaf. She took it from him and put the leaf in the center. "There you go." she smiled. He smiled back, slightly. Ino handed Naruto the bouquet, he took it, and with a grunt of thanks, Naruto was gone. Eventually, he found Sakura.
"Sakura-Chan! Sakura-Chan!" Naruto called, running up to her. "I got this for you!" he shouted, ignoring Sasuke.
"Ugh, it looks dead." Sakura said, throwing it to the ground. "You're an idiot. Just go die!" she snapped. Naruto looked pained as she stalked off. He ran away towards his home, tears visibly falling from his eyes. Sasuke, all alone, walked up to the bouquet. He picked it up, though beaten from the rough treatment, it screamed 'I'm giving up on my beloved' into Sasuke's face. He frowned, and went after Sakura. When Sakura noticed he was following her, she stopped and walked up to him. "Hi, Sasuke-kun!" she said brightly, before Sasuke shoved the bouquet into her arms.
"Look up the meanings!" he snarled before leaping off, leaving behind a confused Sakura. A pang of nervousness hit Sasuke when he reached Naruto's house. The door was thrown wide open, and waving in the wind. Sasuke walked up to the door. The sight he saw next was enough to make anybody scream. Naruto lay dead on the ground, bleeding profusely, the kunai still in his hands. Clutched in his other hand, was a slip of paper and a flower. A Cyclamen, symbolizing 'Goodbye'. Sasuke took the flower and the paper, signed to Sakura. He opened it and read;
Dear Sakura,
Goodbye
This pain is far beyond compare
It is too much for me to bear
But now with you I'll try to share
This feeling in my heart
What I give you'll throw away
Just like what you did today
But now to you I have to say
You tore my soul apart
There isn't much more time to spend
Now to you, my will shall bend
Soon, my wretched life will end
A kunai through my heart
I hope you will remember me
And all the things we could not be
I guess that you will never see
My life had yet to start
Now I guess I'm going to die
I guess I was living just a lie
Now as you read, I cease to cry
A kunai stopped my heart
Sasuke stopped reading, a look of shock on his face. He took the poem and the flower and ran to get the Sandiame. He, Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, and a number of other jounin ran towards Naruto's house, Sasuke leading the way. They knew when they got there, that it was too late.
"But why!" Asuma demanded. "Why didn't Kyuubi heal him?" Sasuke had no idea what they were talking about, but stayed quiet.
"I am led to believe," Kakashi said. "That he stopped the Kyuubi from healing him."
"That's not the entire case." Sarutobi said, pulling his fingers absentmindedly through his beard. "From the looks of all the wounds he has, he probably hurt himself so badly, that the Kyuubi could not heal him completely in time." Everyone nodded sadly, taking their headbands off, letting them hang in respect.
At Naruto's funeral, the Sandiame spoke highly of him. "Let's pray for Konoha's greatest hero, the true Hokage of this village." he said, wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye. Naruto's name was carved onto the Memorial stone with the names of all the other heroes of Konoha.
The only ones who ever knew what really happened to Naruto, were the jounin, Sandiame, Sasuke, Ino, and Sakura.
Ino and Sasuke always resented Sakura for what had happened, eventually leading to Sasuke leaving the village. Ino was friendly towards Sakura, but faraway and distant. And life went on.
But the heart of the village was forever missing...
This is the first sad fic I've ever written. Not to mention my first One-shot! Please R&R. I just like feedback. If you don't like it, then tell me why. If you did, vise versa, tell me why you liked it.
Mokuze-san