Hey pplz! Okay, I'm working really hard on this story and I'd appreciate it if you reviewed and kept on reading. Because it'll be cool, I promise. Though this chapter isn't all that amazing, it's not really supposed to be. Because it's more of a information chapter then anything else. But you gotta know some stuff before you go on reading the rest of the story or else you'd be like "...What the fishies?" Because I've changed some stuff.
Stuff you'll probably wanna know.
-The whole story's a little OOC. Not my fault. It just kinda worked like that.
-Sakura's hair is NOT supposed to be pink yet. It's long and black. Just wait till the next chapter to find out why.
-I've tried to include all of the characters, but it's kinda hard when you realize how many there actually are and what I have in mind for this story's future.
-I've got a plan so don't be all mean and diss me and my story. It'll all work out eventually, so just hang tight.
-I'M SORRY! My spelling and grammar suck. I've admitted this frequently. (But I am better then my friend who spells "dumb" with an E. Seriously, who does that?)
-I don't own Naruto or it's characters, I'd never claim to, because I'm not that great at writing or drawing. If I did own Naruto it'd be stick figures running around aimlessly for one single episode, because after one episode I'd be fired. No one would like it.
-I don't wanna give too much away pairing wise, but I know some people out there are like die hard Sakura&Neji fans so I'm going to try not to let you guys down. But besides them (and the obviously super cute Naruto&Hinata couple!) I'm going to try to conceal the couples till later.
-I have nothing against Ino! Really I don't. I just needed a girl to be whoreish and who was close to Sakura. She might be better later on... maybe... you'll have to find out.
Anyways, please read on!
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Prologue
Cursed Fate
The young girl sat up with a start, jerking her whole body upright, opening her eyes to see only darkness. She clutched onto the blanket that she was still engulfed in, gasping for breath. Trying to calm her racing heart beat she held the blankets so tightly her knuckles were turning white. Her eyes swiveled in all directions but could only see what the green glow from her alarm clock would allow her to. All the many shadows of the room now seemed to hold a perilous monster or ghostly apparition waiting to whisk her away, back to her nightmare.
It took a while for her head to clear enough to know she was safe in her room, just having woken up from yet another nightmare. Shuffling backwards so her back pressed against the headboard, Sakura whimpered a little.
"When are these nightmares going to stop?" She whispered to herself, her voice cut through the silence of the suburban home. Her hands released the coral coloured blanket, letting it fall back down on top of her bed while she brought her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. She rested her forehead on the top of her knees and closed her eyes, every once in a while taking deeps breaths in order to calm herself more.
She should have been used to this by now, these nightmares she would get. They occurred every time she was stressed or had something unpleasant on her mind. And, as it would seem, she had been stressed for months now, having nightmares a few times a week.
Every time it was the same nightmare-the same play by play of everything that happened just mere months ago-it was always exactly the same. She could quote every sentence anyone in her presence had said that night, she could mimic all their actions precisely, but that didn't mean she understood what had happened.
It had been the middle of May, the day was darker then normal, a cloud of gray seemed to hang over Rose Village. She had been rushed to the hospital in an ambulances after one of her closest friends had found her on the floor in her bathroom, by that time she had almost bled to death.
How she had gotten there was a story in itself. Her father was an undercover detective, working in a small business with two partners he had met years prior to the girl's existence. Not too long after the three of them left high school they had started a-what they had hoped to be-family detective business. They worked together for years, taking down small time criminals, helping to potently save people's lives, and to this day they continue the business. But not without making a few enemies along the way.
In fact, that was the reason the young girl had gone to the hospital in the first place. Sakura's father and his partners were invited to a big dinner to celebrate the appointing of a new chief of police that spring. He, along with her mother, had gone to the dinner and stayed in a hotel that night so they didn't have to drive back home in the dark. Sakura was supposed to stay home with her older brother while they were gone, but it didn't work out like that.
Sakura and her brother had a fight that night, about her brother's secret-or what he thought was secret-affection towards one of Sakura's best friends, Yamanaka Ino. Ino was pretty, and popular, but she had some family problems that made Sakura grow increasingly annoyed with her. Ino's parents were workaholics and were rarely at home, making Ino crave their attention. And when she couldn't get their attention, she strived for other's.
After their fight that night Sakura's brother went to Ino's house, leaving Sakura all alone. She wasn't used to being all by herself, the little sounds of creaking wood and the light breeze rattling the windows gave her the chills. Little did she know, some of those creaks and cracks she had heard weren't cause by nature.
She had decided to take a bath to calm herself, and as she lay soaking in the bubble infested waters she heard a loud bang come from down stairs. The noise scared her, like all the other ones she had heard previously, but this time it was different. The noise had come from the front foyer, and it was soon fallowed by other strange noise.
Finding the nervousness within her growing, she got out of the tub and put on her pale green bathrobe. Walking slowly to the bathroom door, she pressed her ear to the wood and focused on what was going on downstairs. Dull thuds, scarping of wood, vases being knocked over, footsteps, and hushed voices- hearing this sent Sakura's mind spinning.
She had no idea what to do, but she knew she had to do something. Deciding it was best to sneak out the window rather then try to fight her way out, she attempted to crawl out the window. Unfortunately Sakura had always been one of the shorter students in her grade and she wasn't able to reach to windowsill.
She looked around the room desperately for something to stand on and found a large wooden laundry basket. After dumbing the contents out on the floor, Sakura flipped the basket over and put it under the window. Though standing on it was uncomfortable and sent multiple splinters into the bottom of her feet, it was able to get her high enough off of the floor to reach the pane.
Gripping her fingers on the wooden frame, she tried repeatedly to hoist herself up out out of the bathroom. She hadn't counted on the fact that her whole body would shake violently from fear and the cold damp of the air surrounding her. She didn't have long to try and think of a new plan of escape before the bathroom door flew open with a loud bang. Standing in the doorway was a rather large man with a very orange mohawk looking threatening to the small girl.
The man hadn't realized anyone was home and was surprised to see a fearful young girl wrapped in a bathrobe standing before him. But it only took a faction of a second for the shock to wear off before a slightly sadistic smile crossed his face. A second later her lunged at Sakura, causing her to shriek and slip off the upturned basket.
After that everything went black. She had hit her head on the side of the bathtub and fell unconscious, she couldn't remember any thing else that happened that night. Then intruders didn't do anything to her ones she had hit her head. They had thought no one was home, that's why they were there that night. Their intentions were only to break in and trash the Haruno's house. It was their attempt at getting Sakura's father back for putting one of their friends behind bars.
Sakura relished cool breeze that came through her window that stood slightly ajar. She slowly climbed out of her bed, as to not wake up her parents from their peaceful sleep. A small amount of pleasure graced the bottom of her feet as she quietly fumbled her way across the cold hardwood floor.
She had never liked summer much. She preferred spring over any season, when the snow melted away revealing the colourful buds of flowers and lush green grass. As summer came rolling around the sun would grow so hot that the flowers would shrivel and the grass would become a sickly brown colour. But alas, summer was inevitable and it came every year at the same time. Sakura was quite thankful that it was almost over. Autumn was right around the corner, and school was mere days away.
Reaching the window she pushed it all the way open to let in a small amount of cool air. She stood there for quite some time with her eyes shut enjoying the change in temperature, even if it was a small one. After a moment the draft ceased and Sakura opened her eyes ones more.
Across the street was a small park, some of it's outlines weren't visible in the darkness of the night. A look of anguish rose on her soft features. She always liked that park, but for a long time she hadn't been able to bring herself to step foot upon the graveled ground.
Another breath of wind blew through the neighborhood, causing the swings in the playground to sway. The sound of rusty metal echoed between the houses on the street.
Closing her eyes once more, Sakura let out a painful sigh. It hadn't been that long ago that she and her brother had sat for hours on those swings, just talking and joking around. But now it seemed like years had gone by since she had smiled, let alone laughed at one of her brother's lame jokes.
After opening her eyes again, Sakura turned around in the dark room and stumbled back to her bed. Laying down she threw her thin coral blanket over herself trying to get comfortable, a thing she doubted she could do. She had never been able to relax and consent to comfort while she had something on her mind. And on nights she had that nightmare her mind was always racing.
The morning after she had fell to the bathroom floor one of her close friends, Hygua Neji, had come over to check up on her and her brother. Seeing the front door was open as he walked up the sidewalk, Neji started to worry. His heart started to race the moment he entered the house, seeing everything in a state of disorder. He franticly searched each room for either of the teenage Harunos. When he finally fell upon Sakura, he was sure she was dead.
Though she was alive, she still had spent hours on the cold tile floor with a crack open skull. Neji was able to find the telephone in the chaotic mess of a living room at Sakura's house. An ambulance came and took both of them to the hospital. Sakura was rushed into the emergency room while Neji was left to try and contact her parents and find out where her brother had gone. He really hoped that nothing had happened to him too.
After contacting her parents and calling all the likely people who would know where her brother was, Neji was finally able to locate him at Ino's house. He would have found this odd if his mind wasn't clouded with worry.
Soon the waiting room was filled with concerned parents, siblings, and friends. Sakura's parents had rushed over quickly and hadn't found the time to change out of their more formal attire. Her brother and Ino showed up together but hadn't made eye contact with one another even once. When he asked what had happened, the question had come out awkward and filled with guilt, since he was supposed to have been there with her the night before. Her other friends, Nara Shikamaru and Sabaka No Gaara, sat tensely beside Neji.
It wasn't too long before the doctor came out and told them that she'd be alright. You could practically feel a wave of ease pass through the room. Sakura had lost a lot of blood and suffered minimal brain damage when she hit her head. The doctor told them she'd be fine with a few days rest.
The first night she was in the hospital she didn't wake up. Though it worried her family and friends, the doctor assured them that it was alright. She was weak because of all the blood she lost, but she'd wake up soon enough.
The doctor was right, the next day she awoke drowsy. Her parents had stayed their all night with her but left a short while previous to her waking to go home, change, and bring Sakura some of her favorite candies to make her feel better. Gaara, Ino and Shika had also gone home for some rest, having spent hours worrying and stressing over Sakura.
When she did wake up, her head was pounding and aching so much, she could barely tell who was in the room with her. After the nurse was called she was given some medicine to help make everything clearer. It took a while for it to kick in, but eventually she could make out most of the objects that filled the room, two of which were people.
"Hey." A tall black haired boy had said softly from the chair beside her bed, "You're finally up."
Sakura grunted in response. She tried to sit up in her hospital bed but had a little trouble due to her lightheaded-ness. The black haired boy got up from his seat and helped her into a proper sitting position as Neji came closer to the bed. He had been standing by the large window gazing outside.
"How are you feeling?" He asked her, sitting down on one side of the bed opposite to were her brother was currently.
"Hn," She voiced, placing one hand to the side of her head, "Not good."
"That's to be expected." Her brother said with a sad smile.
"Do you know what happened?" She asked him, running her hand through what was now her short black hair.
"They had to cut your hair." He replied, "It kept getting in the way."
"That's not what I meant," She told him blandly, bringing her hand down to her lap where the other one lay. She lifted her head to face her older sibling and look into his emerald green eyes. He diverted his gaze, suddenly finding one of the plain white tiles on the floor very interesting. "Do you know what happened?"
Neji's eyes traveled from one sibling to the other not understanding what was going on.
"Yeah." The dark haired boy muttered under his breath. Though barely audible, Sakura still heard it.
"I've got a question." Sakura said after a few minutes of silence in the room. This caught his attention, "What were you doing?"
Though the question seemed simple enough, he knew it wasn't meant to be. "I was at Ino's." He told her honestly, hoping that the answer would suffice. But it didn't.
"I knew where you were." Her voice unlike the sweet, cheerful voice she normally used when addressing him, it was cold and dry like she was talking to someone insuperior to her. "I asked you what you were doing."
He sighed out angrily, there was no way of getting around the subject.
"Fine Sakura, I'll tell you what I was doing." He said in a louder voice then he meant to, "You already know but it seems you're dieing to hear it from me. We had sex." Silence filled the room again. "There, happy?"
"No." She retorted bitterly. "I'm not happy. You shouldn't be either."
"Really?" He asked, sending her a small glare, "And why's that?"
"She doesn't love you."
For a moment a look of hurt spread itself across the young man's soft features, but it was soon replaced by one of fury.
"Just because you're angry because I left you for Ino doesn't give you the right to make up stuff about her." He said while getting to his feet.
"I'm not making anything up." She replied angrily. "She's just using you because she wants attention."
"She wouldn't do that." He told her. "Not to me."
"Why are you protecting her?" Sakura asked outraged. Though a question kept popping back into her head, 'why was she?' "You know I'm right. You know she's just taking advantage of you."
"Why the hell would she do that?" He asked her, "Huh, Sakura? Why would she want to use me?"
"Because," She screamed, "She's a whore."
The second the word slipped out of her mouth Sakura knew she had pushed him way too far. The moments that fallowed her final outburst seemed to drag on. She wasn't sure what was going to happen. By the look on her brother's face she was sure he was about to reach out and slap her across the face.
But he didn't hit her, he didn't yell at her, he just turned around and walked straight out the door. He didn't look back, and he didn't close the door. He just left.
Neji sighed in an attempt to ease the tension in the room. "Sakura." He muttered, shaking his head slightly like a troubled mother would do to her misbehaved child.
"Don't, Neji." She said hanging her head towards the floor. She hated it when he did that. It was his way of scolding her. He started with sighing and making her feel like a child then he'd continue on to make her see just how much worst she had made things for herself. "I know I went too far, but please, don't start."
"Alright." He said, though it wasn't very convincing. She knew it was only a matter of time before he started harassing her. He couldn't keep from making her see the errors of her way.
"You know," He said about five minutes later, "He was really worried about you." She made a small grunt-like noise so that he knew she heard him. "We all were."
When she didn't reply they fell quiet once more, but Neji had other plans. If the room were to stay muted he was sure Sakura would go insane.
He reacher over to the nightstand beside her bed and picked up a stuffed bear. It was Tye Dyed purple and pink with sparkling hot pink writing across it's stomach that said 'huggles'. His movement caused Sakura to look up at him.
"What's that?" She asked out of pure confusion. The toy was heinously cute.
"A get well present" Neji said nonchalantly while looking at the bear in slight disgust before he placed it back down on the nightstand, making sure it faced the wall. "Just goes to show how worried Gaara really was."
"That's from Gaara?" She laughed out in shock.
"Yeah." Neji replied, looking back at her with a small smile. "Poor dude was so stressed that he actually thought it was an alright gift." Sakura let out another small laugh at this.
"I'm glad you're laughing again." He said, once again getting her attention and causing her to look up into his lavender eyes.
"I shouldn't be." Guilt laced her voice as she spoke. "Not when my brother hates me."
"He doesn't hate you." Neji had assured her as tears were starting to form in her sea green eyes. "He's just upset."
"But I've never seen him that mad before." The tears threatened to spill over the sides of her eyes. Neji moved further onto the bed and pulled Sakura onto his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist. She leaned the good side of her head against his shoulder and let a few tears trickle down her cheeks. "You think he'll forgive me?"
"Of course he will." Neji almost laughed. Though she could be quite cold when she wanted to, Sakura was a very sweet girl. She couldn't escaped her innocence, it came second nature to her. "He really does love you."
Turning her head to reply, she was startled when she realized how close they actually were. Their lips were mere inches away from each other, and Sakura found his gaze so inviting, so alluring. His pale orbs flicked from her lips to her eyes, silently seeking permission. Seeing no signs of refusal Neji neared, closing the distance to seal his lips with hers.
The kiss began feather-light, innocent and gentle, but soon Neji soon deepened it, knowing full well that Sakura wouldn't stop him. Sakura's eyes widened like saucers before they closed, like a mindless automaton, she returned his kiss. She was just beginning to pick up on his rhythm when he pulled away hastily, as if having been burned.
"Well, well, well." A voice called from the doorway of the hospital room. Hesitantly Sakura looked up, a deep scarlet colour rose to her face. Gazing over her shoulder Sakura saw a tall, skinny blond girl looking very satisfied with what she had just walked in on. "Looky what we've got here."
Throwing her blanket back off of her overheating body, Sakura rolled over in her bed and burred her face in her pillow. She let out a groan, she'd rather not remember what came next. Not that she wanted to remember all that had gone through her head already tonight. Believe her, nothing could make her want to forget it more.
Groaning again, she pinched her eyes closed and tried desperately to shake the visions from her view. But, like every time she started thinking about her brother, she couldn't get the images of him out of her head. The visions of his livid face as he turn and walked away from her, not saying a word to her. Never again going to speak a word to her.
"So that's it?" An enraged Ino asked moments after their conversation had gone down a different path. By this time Sakura was standing in front of the blond girl, holding a distressed, yet determined look upon her pale face. "After all of these years you're just going to drop me as a friend?"
"It was a long time coming." Sakura said numbly in a voice that didn't seem to be that of her own. "I can't take it anymore Ino. You're constant need for attention is driving me insane."
There was a brief moment of silence in the room. Ino was to angry and confused to manage to form another sentence. She didn't know where this was coming from, she and Sakura had always been best friends. But now Sakura seemed dead set against having any further relations with the girl.
Sakura herself was standing quietly, as if waiting for Ino to get the point and storm out of the room. Behind her Neji remained seated on the hospital bed. He had been silent the entire time, thinking it best to leave the two to sort out their own problem, but it didn't seem like Sakura's answer was going to solve anything.
"So we're not going to be friends anymore?" Ino's voice was quieter then normal as she ran through everything her dark haired friend had just told her. "You don't want to talk to me, and we're never going to hang out again?"
"Exactly." Said Sakura, her eyes narrowing slightly as she continued to stare into Ino's watery baby blue orbs. "As of right now we aren't friends."
Water began to spill over the edges of the taller girl's eyes, realizing that her long time friend wasn't going to change her mind. They were to cease being friends, after going through childhood and their high school lives, as of yet, side by side. It was a concept that distressed her to say the least.
"Fine." She managed to croak out, tears making their way down her cheeks. "Have it your way."
With that she turned on her heals and made her way over to the closed door. Sea green eyes didn't take themselves off her for a second, fallowing her every movement. When the blond placed her hand on the door she hesitated for a few seconds, mentally contemplating what she could say as a final farewell.
"I hope you know, that if we aren't friends," Ino's words were slow and meaningful, suddenly dripping with spite and malice as she made final eye contact,"We're enemies."
Something within Sakura exploded but her appearance didn't change for an instant. Standing straight with her arms crossed over her chest, she sent one last glare Ino's way, "So be it."
With that Ino left, leaving the room in complete and total silence once more. Sakura closed her eyes tight, willing herself not to cry. True, it was her idea to stop all traces of a relationship with her friend, but she still couldn't help but feel a huge loss, like someone close her had tragically passed.
Neji made an odd noise, probably just to get Sakura's attention, she concluded before gazing over at him. When their eyes met she wished she hadn't looked his way at all. The look he was sending her made her stomach turn. Before Ino had walked into the room he had only been giving her looks of affection and concern. But now the worry had washed away from his smooth features and was replaced by one of utter disappointment.
The door bust open with a loud bang that echoed in the small room. Instantly drawing their attention towards the sound, the two were startled to see Shikamaru standing in to doorway. He was panting hard, as though he had been running for a very long time. Sweat was trickling down his forehead as he leaned on the wooden door frame and tried to regain his breath.
"Shika?" Neji said, getting to his feet and standing between him and Sakura. The discontent in his face lighten as concern began to set in once more. "What's wrong? What happened?"
Taking a big gulp of air Shika raised his head and met Sakura's eyes, "Your brother-" He breathed out again, he really must have traveled far if he was this tiered. But then again, it was Shikamaru standing before them, he wasn't exactly the most energetic person in the world, "-car-" Which meant that what ever the reason for his sudden need to rush over, wasn't something to be overlooked, "-accident."
Sakura's eyes widened as she gasped in terror, she didn't know what to think. She had just seen her brother a short while before, how could he have gotten himself into trouble in that small amount of time?
"What?" She managed to croak in a horrified voice. Her throat was void of all liquid, she choked a little as the scratchy word passed her lips.
"Outside." Shika informed her, his face was paler then normal and his face help a dismayed look. He tried to sober up his appearance, he attempted to straighten up his posture as air began to circulate more regularly through his lungs. "Gaara and I were heading in to see you, and we saw him leaving."
He gulped again, his throat too was without any moister.
"What happened Shika?" Neji pressed, one of his closest friends was just reported hurt, he wasn't about to let something as simple as Shikamaru's lack of saliva stop him from finding out exactly what happened.
"He was distracted by something." Shika continued, but this time he made a point not to look in their direction. "He wasn't paying attention when he left the building. He walked out onto the street and didn't see the car coming before it was too late."
Her chest was heaving up and down now. No matter how much air passed through her lungs she would keep sucking in more as a feeble attempt to try and calm herself. It obviously wasn't working at all as tears started pooling at the edges of her eyes.
She was trying to convince herself silently that he was alright. People have gotten hit by cars and survived before, she knew that was a fact. In school they were forced to sit through long assemblies when public speakers came to share their experiences with drunken driving and recklessness. If they had managed to survive and be well enough to lecture a crowd of teenagers then her brother would be fine. Right?
"Shika." The pale eyed boy growled, not liking the quietness of the boy. It was eating at him, he needed to know what happened. Neji needed to know that he was alright.
Shikamaru turned his head to the side, eyes watering, intent on not seeing their fearful expressions. "I'm sorry Sakura." He mumbled, his voice cracking a little, "I'm so sorry."
Neji's reactions were lightening fast. He managed to catch Sakura as she collapsed in pure horror, but her pull was too strong for him and he was drawn down to the floor with her. That would be the last time the sorrowful girl would be weeping in his loving arms.
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So, what do you think of it so far? Please let me know, I'd really appreciate it. I'm not that great at witting, so reviews would help me out. Think of it as your good act for the day, you'd make me really happy! Or if you really have something against reviewing, then go read more stories. There are some really great soon-to-be-authors out there that are dieing to have their stories read.
So please, read and review!
