Woot! Woot! Hey people! It's Pasta here, with a new story! Squee! And it's NaruSaku, so if you were hoping for something else, sorry! xD

This was a request from my very good friend Meli-chan! (( I don't know her fanfic username, so I'll just put her nickname. )) And about the rating...it's M, I know. She wanted it to be, even though I KNOW I'm going to have a hard time writing lemon with Naruto and Sakura, but whatever. xD I'll do my best to please her. She's been nagging me for at least two weeks about it, so I finally put it up. Tell me if it's bad...Which it probably is, but oh well. Oh yeah, and I'm sorry if I rush anything in this. I was hurrying because Meli-chan was going to hurt me if I didn't put it up soon... -sheepish grin-

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did Sauce-Gay would be dead, and the entire Akatsuki would be alive and kickin'. And Lee would love me! xD (( Just kidding. On to the story! ))

-Try To Love Again-

-Chapter One-

When I opened my eyes, I was staring at darkness. I couldn't see anything, which kind of worried me. What if I got captured during a mission and was now being held hostage at an enemy base? What if it was someone dangerous…like the Akatsuki!? "Where…am I?" I wondered aloud, once I got the courage to speak, my voice cracked and hoarse. I flinched at the pain in my throat and cleared it several times, ignoring the stinging. Then, I noticed that something off to my left was…snoring?

"Um?" I said, blinking. I had no idea what was going on.

"WHERE'S THE FIRE?!" it screamed, waking up, hitting something and then moaning. I suppressed my giggle. Boy this was some 'jailer'. I reached over to my side to see if anything was there and it hit something hard. It apparently had a switch, so I flicked it up, and it set off a dim light. Hm, so it was a lamp. Where the hell was I…?

"Eh…Sorry, if I woke you, Saku-chan," said a voice quite near me. I turned my head away from the lamp and saw a familiar looking blond boy laying in the floor. He got up and walked over to me. He smiled and hugged me tightly to the point where I couldn't breath.

"N-Naruto?" I asked, in a daze.

"Oh, sorry! U-um, do you need anything?" he asked, pulling back to look me in the eye worriedly.

"No," I mumbled, groaning at the sharp pain in my stomach. "Naruto…What h-happened to me, exactly?"

"Well, Saku-chan, you went on a mission with teme about a week and a half ago because Granny Tsunade didn't want me to go with him and on the way back he hurt you and…left again," said Naruto, growling slightly at the end.

"O-oh," I whispered, understanding now. Sasuke left? Again? I sighed and leaned back against my pillows. So, apparently, by the looks of the place, I was in the hospital. In a very nice room, if I say so myself. Ha. Tsunade-sama probably had something to do with this.

But I was certainly in no mood for humor. My heart was crushed. Sasuke…My Sasuke left the village for the second time. Leaving me and all his friends…well, I wouldn't say friends, behind. I was holding back the tears for Naruto's sake. I didn't want him to see me cry. Hell, I hated to see myself cry. It just made me feel so weak. Kunoichi didn't cry. I was stronger than this. I didn't need Sasuke. And yet, I felt like my heart had been shredded into a million pieces.

He lied to me. He told me that he would stay by my side until the end. And I, being the stupid baka I am, believed him. He said that he would never leave again. That Itachi didn't matter anymore. That he was loyal to his village. That…that he loved me. How could I be so stupid!? I was disgusted at not only him, but myself as well. He used me…and I couldn't believe it. It was just too unreal, yet completely predictable. I should have listened to Tenten. She had always said Sasuke was a fake. But I didn't listen to her. I told her that Sasuke was certainly not a fake and that he really loved me. And that she was just jealous. Oh Kami-sama, he turned me into a bitch! How could I say that to Tenten?

I was feeling so guilty and trying so hard not to cry, I hardly realized that Naruto had climbed up on the bed to sit with me. I couldn't bare to look at him right now. But then, he did something unexpected. He wrapped his arms around me and lifted me into his lap. I winced at the pain but didn't say anything. It wasn't like I was shocked or anything. I've known Naruto long enough to be able to sit in his lap without anyone thinking that we were romantically inclined, right? Besides, we were the best of friends, and sitting in each others laps was just a sign of comfort. I sighed and made myself comfortable by leaning my back against his chest. Maybe I should just tell him.

'It won't kill you. Come on,' Inner urged me on and I bit my lip, stuck in my decision.

Then it just all came out. I told Naruto everything that Sasuke said to me and I cried. For the first time in a very long time, yes, I cried. I told him that Sasuke was a bastard and I was just some stupid girl that he turned into a bitch by pretending to love. I told him that I thought I had it all when I had Sasuke's fake love. But in the end, I came out broken and hurt. I told him that my friends thought I was mean and a snob. He hardly said anything. There was a few times where I could actually hear his teeth clenching together in anger.

"Oh, l-look at me!" I said, tears cascading down my cheeks. "I'm a complete m-mess!"

I felt Naruto's arms tighten around me. "No you aren't Sakura-chan! He hurt you! And that's all there is to it."

I sighed and closed my eyes. Naruto just didn't get it. That really wasn't all there is to it. It was a lot more than that. My friends hated my guts, probably. I only had one person. And that person was Naruto.

"I…I guess I should apologize to Tenten," I whispered, opening my eyes and I leaned my head back on Naruto's shoulder.

He nodded in agreement and then asked. "But…do you think you're well enough to get around?" I rolled my eyes at his concern but nodded. He smiled at me before lifting me off of his lap. Naruto then jumped up off the bed and carefully picked me up. He then placed my feet on the ground. "Can you walk?"

I staggered around a little before I got the feel of using my legs again. "I think I'll manage."

He smiled brightly at me, then embraced me tightly. "Well, I hope you guys make up."

I laughed and hugged him back. "Oh don't worry, I'll make sure we do. Now get out, I have to get dressed!" Naruto pulled away, grinned, and happily skipped to the door, making me laugh some more.

"Call me later, Sakura-chan!" he said, opening the door. I gave him a thumbs-up and he winked at me before stepping out and closing the door behind him. I smiled to myself and walked over to my temporary closet and opened the two white doors. There were a few changes of clothing. My pajamas were two, just in case I wanted to use those instead of the plain white hospital gown, and the other was my regular everyday outfit. I doubt Tsunade-sama thought I would be waking up to decide whether I wanted my pajamas or that I would be waking up at all this week anyway.

After I had stripped myself of everything except my bra and underwear, I went over to stand in front of the full-length mirror that was on the wall beside the closet. I winced at the sight of myself. I had several scars on my left shoulder and both of my arms. They were pretty deep, but they weren't that noticeable. I was pleased that Tsunade-sama or Shizune-san did quite a good job of fading out most of them. I had a long slash going in a slanted line across my torso. It hurt to know that Sasuke was probably responsible for my injurys. I ran my index finger across the line…And then, the memories came back…

The rain was coming down fairly hard as we made our way back to the Leaf village. The mission was completed, and the scroll was tucked safely away in my medic skirt. Sasuke was in front of me, jumping from tree to tree. We were both completely drenched in the water, but we really didn't care. I was tired after all the fighting we had to go through while taking back what was rightfully Konoha's - the scroll. My chakra was low because I had to heal myself and Sasuke many times before we were able to travel again. Who knew mere Iwa jounin were that skilled? Certainly not me. All I wanted to do was go home and relax for a few days before I went back to the hospital or was needed on another mission. Besides, the sooner we got back, Sasuke promised me he would take me on a date. And I was excited about that. So excited, in fact, that I barely noticed that Sasuke had stopped suddenly. I halted on a branch of the tree that was directly behind him.

"Oi, Sasuke…What is it?" I asked, raising an eyebrow as I stared at his back.

The next thing I knew, he was in front of me, about two inches away on the same branch. He then raised his hand, holding a kunai and slashed across my shoulder with such force that I flew off the tree and landed on the moist, grassy ground. I gasped with pain.

"Wha…What the hell is wrong with you!?" I asked sitting up, flinching and clutching my shoulder, wasting a little more of my chakra by healing the wound enough to stop the bleeding.

He just smirked and jumped down to stand in front of me. He bent down to be eye-level with me and said. "Oh poor, little Sakura. What do you think is wrong with me?"

Confusion, hurt, and anger filled my eyes, but in my heart I could only feel one at this moment. And that one, was anger. I was up in a flash and used another small dose of my charka kicking him with the heel of my boot, making him fly into a tree, smashing it in half and then hitting another tree. I smirked with just as much force, if not more, as his.

"How the hell should I know what's wrong with you?" I asked, my fist clenched and wanting so bad to pound his face into the ground.

Sasuke stood back up, his face and hands covered in splinters. His stomach was bleeding freely from where I had kicked him. I tensed, ready for any move he threw at me. I knew he wasn't kidding. If he was, he would wait until we were back in the village to kid around. Sasuke took missions seriously, like a good ninja is supposed to.

"Why, Sakura, you said you knew me better than I know myself," he said, throwing several kunai in my direction. I deflected them easily with my own kunai knife and glared at him as he spoke. "So you should obviously know what's wrong."

I sighed and rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Oh for Kami-sama's sake, Sasuke. Is it Itachi or what?"

It didn't go unnoticed that his eyes turned dark an cold as I spoke his brother's name. Apparently, even though he 'didn't care' about Itachi anymore, it was still a very touchy subject for him, and a lot of people respected that.

"Yes," Sasuke muttered. "He's somewhere near here. I have to kill him. I have to avenge my family."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again, but stared at him. "Oh? So you lied to me when you said that Itachi didn't matter?" How dare he lie to me about something like this. I was his girlfriend. His 'pride and joy' as he often joked with me.

Sasuke just laughed at me and shook his head. "Of course I was lying! Did you really think I would let something as important as that go!? I'll never forgive him for what he did. Ever."

I twitched in irritation. I really didn't want to stand here and listen to him ramble about how much he hated Itachi. Apparently, unlike him, I was loyal to my village, no matter what. Brother or no brother.

I was too lost in my thoughts. Too distracted by his beautiful face to notice him pulling out his katana. Because in the next second, I had about nine cuts along both of my arms. I hissed slightly as I glared at him. My fist flew out and connected with his head and I knew I had at least fractured his skull. But he recovered faster than I would have imagined and quickly sliced a long line across my stomach. I yelped in pain and collapsed to the ground. He then walked over and crouched down beside me.

"I don't want to hurt you."

"Tch, then why did you, bastard?"

"You made me."

"Yeah right! I'm not the one that went all psycho when I heard Itachi was in the forest!"

"Because you don't hate him."

"Oh shut the hell up."

"Alright." Sasuke then leaned down and placed a kiss on my lips. "Just a little something to remember me."

I gasped but I couldn't move for some reason. "You…You fucking bastard! Get the hell away from me!"

"As you wish," he laughed and disappeared before I could say anything else.

This was ridiculous. It had to be a joke! Just had to be. But yet, in the back of my mind, I knew it wasn't. In the back of my mind, I knew all along that this would happen. Tenten was right and she always had been.

'I'm going to die,' thought, as my eyelids began to droop. No one was going to save me. I knew that I was quite far away from the village. It could be days until the came to search for me. And I was losing too much blood. I couldn't move to heal myself. Besides, I didn't even have the chakra to do it, anyway.

As my eyes closed completely, all I could think about was Sasuke. No, not in the, 'come back I miss you!' way, the 'I'm gonna hunt you down and kick your ass' way.

"Sasuke…" I muttered, slipping away into the darkness, hoping that someone would find me before I die.

Hmph. So that's what happened. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck. I honestly wished I hadn't remembered. I didn't want to. I just wanted everything about Sasuke to disappear. But I knew that was impossible. I couldn't stop loving Sasuke. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't. What I could do, is make it fade to the smallest amount possible, which it already had. Now, I can think Sasuke and not think 'love' right afterwards. Now I just think 'he's gone'. And he is gone. And this time, I don't think I want him back.

Yay! Chapter one is down! Now to work on chappie two! (( Oh joy, more work. -.-' )) So what'd ya think? Tellll meeee. So REVIEW! Please? -puppy eyes- Reviews mean updating faster, and you want that right? ...So Review!