Infatuation

Summary: When Sasuke announces his marriage to another girl, Sakura becomes heartbroken. While wallowing in her sorrows, she meets a familiar stranger in a place she least expects and starts a dangerous game with him.

Summary 2: Sasuke announces his marriage to another girl, Sakura becomes heartbroken. While wallowing in her sorrows, she meets a familiar stranger in a place she least expects and starts an unhealthy relationship with him.

Sakura would never forget the day, when she saw that three-carat ring on her finger. His arm slung around her slim shoulders in a protective way, meaning she was more that just a friend. The realization hit her hard and clear once she saw the rock on her finger. She watched the couple happily accept blessings. She saw the beaming smile on her face and the trademark smirk on his face, looking much happier than usual. Crowds of people surrounded them and were congratulating the happy couple.

She felt herself freeze up, shoulders tense and hands trembling. No. This wasn't right, it should have been her standing next to him, receiving the blessings and congratulations with him, glowing and beaming at the crowd, and staring lovingly into his eyes, not her.

It felt like someone had wrenched out her heart out of her body and stomped on it numerous times. It felt like someone had repeatedly stabbed her all over. Bile was rising up in her mouth. She felt dizzy and weak like she was going to throw up. Her pulse was rapid. Her hands were clammy and sweaty. Her knees buckled. It was suddenly hard to breathe and she was having a panic attack. This was not happening, she told herself. She pinched her herself, hoping it was a dream, no a horrible nightmare. But it was real and true. He probably had done this on purpose, purposely announcing his engagement publicly only two blocks away from her house.

Why? What was so good about her? How was she better than Sakura? How could he pick a girl that had only been for a short time, over her, a girl he knew since childhood, who was his teammate, comrade, and friend since he was twelve? She knew him better than her. Sakura had loved him longer than her, she was willing to do anything for him, even die for him. She had spent so much time and effort with Naruto to save him from Orochimaru's clutches. She had dated no one, turning down men left and right and waited for him. Not a single day went by, after he had left the village until she thought of him.

Even when he came back to the village with that group of his, Hebi, after killing Itachi, she still loved him. She was part of the few people that welcomed him when he arrived. She was the one with Naruto, who convinced the village council that he wasn't a traitor or a threat to the village. She was the one who made the villager's change their minds and accept him once again was one of their own after and she was the one that convinced Tsunade to make him an official leaf ninja again after many months. She convinced the village that his comrades from Hebi, that she didn't even like, were not threats.

She wasn't the weak, pathetic twelve year-old girl she was before anymore. She had become strong; she had become Tsunade's apprentice, and a well-known medic famed for her quick tactic, intelligence, and strength around all of the ninja villages. She had grew beautiful over the years with a curvy figure and she was good-natured not like before.

He owed so much to her.

No, it was that girl's fault. Sakura glanced at her in his arms, glowing, smiling, laughing, looking happy, as she flipped her long, silky, raven hair. Her eyes were sparking through her glasses. That stupid, horrible, vain, girl who had been one of his comrades in the Hebi gang he had created, his companions were former minions of Orochimaru.

They had at first, did not want to allow his comrades in the village for obvious reasons but Sasuke threatened to leave if his comrades were not allowed to enter the village. As Sasuke became an official leaf ninja, two of his comrades Suigestu and Jugo left the village, dropping by sometimes. But that annoying female companion of his, Karin stayed. It was clear that she thought of him as something more that a comrade, the way she acted so frivolous around him. At first sight and the way she acted with Sasuke, Sakura dislike Karin, thinking of her as a minor rival for Sasuke. That's what she thought in the beginning.

But things changed once, Karin decided to also become an official leaf ninja. She passed the test with flying colors, and was no doubt strong in all the categories: Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Taijutsu and was also strong as a medic. The village began to respect Karin. No doubt she had to strong to be one of Orochimaru's jail guards. Sakura's status as one of the village's strongest female ninjas began to wane, while Karin's status and reputation grew.

Tsunade even began to favor Karin, praising her great skills. Sakura was sure that Tsunade would have asked Karin to be one of her apprentices if Anko hadn't taken her under her wing as her apprentices first. Sakura began to feel worst and worst as Tsunade began to praise Karin more and more.

Not only did Karin steal her status from her, she stole even more. Karin stole her friends. She got along with everyone, excluding Sakura. She was one of the only females that Sasuke tolerated, she was polite to Hinata, even though she argued with Naruto, they were good friends, she chatted with Tenten about the latest weapons, and she and Ino were like best friends. Karin even got along with Neji and Kakashi. But she absolutely hated Sakura. Of course, she pretended to be polite to her in public, but she threw Sakura dirty looks when no one was looking and humiliated Sakura in front of everyone, making her look like the bad one. Everyone began to invite Karin along every time they went out and this was making Sakura extremely angry and uncomfortable.

Sakura began to feel small as her self-esteem began to dwindle, she began to see the backs of her beloved friends again like she did when was twelve and weak and pathetic.

After bringing Sasuke and his comrades to the village gate, Sakura sees a bored-looking girl standing a few feet away from Sasuke, looking annoyed. Black glasses with oval frames are perched on her tiny pert upright nose, her black eyes furrowed and her small pink lips are pursed.

She's probably a comrade of Sasuke's, Sakura thought. She made her way to the strange girl. "Hi." Sakura said with a warm smile. "Welcome to leaf village, I'm –"

"Who asked you to introduce yourself to me? I don't think you're someone I really need to know. And I don't think your worthy of knowing who I am." She interrupted Sakura.

She had tried to be polite to Karin, but Karin made it clear and they would not be friends. So, she gave up. Sakura tried telling her friends about how bitchy Karin was to her, but they refused to listen. The numerous times, she attempted to tell Ino. But Ino bluntly didn't believe her.

"Sakura. You're making a big deal about nothing. Karin just feels a little threatened by you; since you two share the same friends and you also like Sasuke. Just try to get to know her; she's not that bad. I doubt she hates you. She just probably sees you as a rival. Besides, you're the one making a big deal about her, you've made it clear, that you dislike her from the beginning and you always leave when's she's around." Ino would tell her every time.

Sakura had even tried telling Naruto, Kakashi, and Hinata. But they too said something similar to Ino's words. Her friends began to leave her out as Karin made her look bad.

Sakura walks to Ichiraku Ramen, exhausted, after a long day of work at the hospital. She's hot, tired, and sweaty. Her feet ache with each step and her stomach loudly rumbles. There are dark rings around her eyes. She's expecting a quiet night; just a hot bowl of steaming ramen and no one except her in the booth and maybe a hearty talk with ayame. But she sees and hears the exact opposite; the booth is crowded and full of laughter and smells of delicious food. She thinks a bunch of chunin with no work for the night inhabit the booth but she walks closer only to find all of friends are the ones crowding the small restaurant: emitting pearls of merry laughter, eating ramen. Her eyes are wide in disbelief, there's a lump in her throat, and her hands are shaking in anger. Her friends don't even notice her standing the shadows, with a fallen look on her face. She grinds her teeth and somehow manages to gather herself together.

"Hi, guys!" She says with a fake cheery voice.

The laughter stops. Everyone freezes. Naruto is midway eating a ramen noodle with his chopsticks.

Finally, Naruto speaks. "Uh…Sakura-chan, what a pleasant surprise! We weren't expecting you. It was uh…ah… a last minute thing and we didn't think you'd want to come since you would be tired from working at the hospital and everything." He says apologetically, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah." Ino adds, laughing nervously.

She flashes them a fake smile. "Oh, ok. But didn't you guys have work tonight? That's why we canceled tonight for ramen. So did, your mission get canceled at the last minute?"

"Y-yyes. T-tsunade-sssama told us to have an f -fffun night out I-instead and we could do the -mmission in the m-mmorning so ww-we d-ddecided to c-ccome to I-iichiraku r-rramen. " Hinata stutters, looking down nervously, playing with her fingers.

Sakura knew something was fishy. Hinata rarely ever stutters anymore unless she was lying or if she was scared and Tsunade rarely ever canceled missions.

She knew that she ruined things by showing up. No one looks happy, except Karin, who had a big fat smirk on her face directed at Sakura... This was supposed to be a secret fun outing with out her and with out her knowing. She pretended to believe them. "Shishou was generous to you guys, lucky. Have fun, I'm going home for a late night sleep." She winks at them and waves. She knows that if she says anymore her voice will quaver, giving away her true feelings.

She started walking home, but when she far away enough from Ichiraku, she starts to run home. Tears of frustration fill her eyes. She hates feeling like this; she hates her friends excluding her out. But mostly of all, all of her bitter feelings are directed to Karin.

The next day, Ino attempted to talk to her. "Sakura… we didn't mean to exclude you on purpose. Karin was just uncomfortable with you coming along. So, we just wanted her to feel welcome…" She trailed off.

Sakura felt anger bubbling up in her. "So, you choose her over me! You choose a girl that you barely even know over me over silly claims that I've been a bitch to her, instead of believing your best friend since childhood, someone you can trust!"

Ino's cerulean blue eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "We were trying to make her feel welcome unlike you! She cries, Sakura! You've been mean to her from the start. You refuse to accept her. And you usually are the one to welcome someone new to our group. I don't blame her for feeling uncomfortable with you coming. It's like I don't know you anymore!" She spat out angrily.

Sakura's face hardened. Why couldn't anyone see who this two-faced bitch for who she really was? Why were they brainwashed by her? She slammed the door right in Ino's face. She wanted to pull out her hair. Everything was suddenly her fault.

Soon, everyone was drawing farther and farther away from Sakura. No one said hello when they passed her in the marketplace, friends rarely talked to her, and team seven was falling apart. Practices and meetings were distance and uncomfortable, Kakashi seemed to go harder and criticize her each time, Naruto rarely said anything to her, and Sasuke just ignored her. Any trace of friendship or communication she had with him seemed to be gone.

She even rarely saw Tsunade and Shizune, her mentors anymore. They always seemed to be extra busy and only talked to her to tell her that when she was needed at the hospital. She was alone with no friends, with out anyone to talk to.

As dreary things were, Sakura still had hope. No matter what, she hoped things would get better. As that began to dwindle as doubt filled her mind and things got worst, this small shard of hope was the only thing that kept her going.

But when she saw that ring on her finger, that rock shiny and dazzling and the smile on her face and the smirk on his, this small shard of hope broke into tiny pieces. She had absolutely nothing left at all. Her worst nightmare had come true. Things had truly become worst than she had imagined.

Something in her that moment broke, she didn't know what it was. But she was never the same after that moment. Thump. The scroll she was supposed to deliver to Tsunade-sama slipped out of the grasp of her shaking hands and fell unto the asphalt. Time had seemed to stop. She had slipped into shock. Then the worst scenario occurred, Karin had seemed to spot her in the crowd.

"Well, if it isn't Sakura!" Her voice had been sugary sweet, dripping with venom as she beckoned her over with a wave of one of her soft, smooth, pale, manicured hands. Glee was apparent as the smirk on her face appeared to get bigger and bigger. Shoot. Sakura's mind raced, thinking of the possible excuses and escapes to avoid this extremely uncomfortable meeting. But there was no way to avoid this meeting with out making herself look bad.

People who had formed a crowd a couple had moved out of her way and had made a path for her to reach them. The whispers in the crowd echoed in her ear as everyone's eyes were on her. Her ears burned and her stomached flopped. She blinked away the tears that had formed in her eyes and took a deep breath. She stared the couple in the eye as she tried to walk gracefully towards the couple, but her legs felt like legs and she ended up looking clumsy. She almost tripped over her feet and fell into the crowd and steadied herself. All of it was an act, she just wanted to run home and cry until no more tears came.

She somehow managed to twist her lips into a slight smile. "Hi. Oh wow, you guys. I didn't know. So sudden. When did it happen?" She forced fake enthusiasm in her voice.

If Karin was surprised that she hadn't broken down that second, she didn't show it. She surveyed Sakura up and down, hunting for her weakness. "It was waiting to happen. We've dating for some time." She said as if it was obvious that everyone knew they were a couple. "A couple of weeks ago. We announced our engagement public today but we told family and friends earlier." She continued to say smirking, putting much emphasis on "family and friends."

Sakura winced. She was burned. That girl was a pure bitch. There was no need to shove it in her face even more. The crowd was staring at her, waiting to see how she would take the comment. Everyone in Konoha knew that she loved Sasuke and that she still loved even now. They were waiting for her to burst into tears and be the jealous vengeful lover.

Not to mention, they had announced their engagement public two blocks away from her house.

"Oh. Well, I have been spending most of these of my days in the hospital. I rarely get time off… I only found out today. So, how did it happen? Who was the one who proposed?" She asked trying to look unperturbed, but her legs were trembling.

Her eyes were catty and spiteful to Sakura. Her face was glowing. "Sasuke, of course." She squashed Sasuke's muscled arm against her large perky breasts, snuggling it. "Of course, you don't probably want to know how." She said coyly, looking at Sasuke. Sasuke in return, grunted.

Sakura wanted to throw up. She looked a little green and also looked sick. "That's a nice ring! How many carats is it?" She glared at the ridiculously large diamond, which reflected so much light that it had almost blinded her. It was amazing how that small band of gold that the diamond was perched on could stand its weight. Small clusters of smaller but still large diamonds surrounded the larger diamond in an intricate arrangement and white gold encrusted all the diamonds in a unique pattern. That must have taken a huge chunk out of Sasuke's paycheck.

"It's three-carat and especially made in water country, known for their diamonds. It's one of a kind." She bragged, shoving the ring practically under Sakura's nose.

""So… when's the wedding?" She twirled a pink lock of hair nervously.

The grin on her smug face grew even wider. "In a year or so. It's going to be the biggest wedding Konoha's ever seen. The entire village is invited of course, excluding some people." She stared straight at Sakura, when she said this.

There was only so much she could endure. The whispers among the crowd that was getting larger with each passing moment were getting louder. She made a strangled, defeated noise. She stared Sasuke in the eye. "Why?" She croaked. Sasuke ignored her gaze wrapping wife's petite frame with his strong muscular arms, bringing her closer to him. An annoyed look was settled on his face now. "Sakura…" He began in a flat, irritated voice like she was a troublesome child. There was shit-eating grin on Karin's face.

Now, this really hurt her. Even, Sasuke was turning against her. No, he had been against her since the beginning. But it hurt for him to treat her like he did when she was younger like she was some stupid, lovesick girl.

Her hands were shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes were wide, hurt, and accusing. She could barely stand. The act was over. The crowd was getting what they wanted, the mighty apprentice upset and jealous like a child over her love getting married.

"Give her some time, dear. She's in shock. She still had that stupid school-girl crush on you, remember? I was waiting for to cut to the crap and cry like the little weak bitch she is. She's also upset that she lost to me, she's jealous of me since I'm better than her in everything. Not to mention, she's a pathetically weak ninja. She has no accomplishments, whatsoever. Only kami-sama knows how she was promoted to chunin. Anyways, she still not invited not invited to our wedding. I'm afraid, she might cause some problems but I doubt she could come with out having a mental breakdown." She told her fiancée, nonchalantly, completely ignoring Sakura, who was standing right in front of them.

Sasuke didn't say anything; he cupped her chin and brought his mouth to hers. The kiss was sensual.

Their cheeks brushed. Sakura could hear him panting and her small whimpers. His hands were all of her body and her small back was arched in pleasure. Sakura stared at them in anger, hatred and resentment. This was the last straw. But how dare they embrace in front of her!

She ran away from them in the opposite direction towards home, hot tears had streamed down her checks. She curled herself in a small ball and cried and cried until her eyes could shed no more tears. Her mind was jumpy and confused. She kept on throwing up all that she ate until she threw up blood. She tasted the crimson liquid in her mouth and watched how it coated the white toilet and her fingers, a brilliant red. She was a mess and everyone in Konoha knew that. She didn't dare step out of her house for that would confirm the rumors that the medic nin was a mess.

She endured the pathetic attempts her friends made to cheer her up and the criticism from them.

First from Ino:

Ino had skeptically creased a perfectly plucked blond brow. "Sakura, why can't you be happy for them instead being bitter, angry, upset, and so angsty? It's really pathetic. You're acting like a child throwing a fit over a toy. I don't understand why can't let him go. And I still don't understand why your feelings didn't fade for him. He never had feelings for us or cared for us. At least, he has some feelings, even though it is for a different person. Why can't you accept it, he has found someone else? Why can't you accept, Karin is his wife and you aren't? She's a perfectly nice girl, similar to you; the both of you would be friends if you just didn't make things difficult. There are plenty of fish in the sea. There are guys that handsomer than Sasuke that do much better in the personality department! Hmm? So, how about it?" She looked at Sakura eagerly for a response.

But Sakura was listlessly staring at the walls, in some other world, as if Ino wasn't there.

Ino threw her hands in the air in frustration. "You are entirely hopeless. Your acting like someone died! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Sasuke, for finally finding somebody and you, for finally moving on, forgetting about him and set to find a new man. I even bought you groceries and toiletries and even new clothes from the market, since everyone said that you haven't been out of your house for a month. And you can't even answer me! I'm trying to help you, Sakura." She shrieked, glaring at Sakura, boring holes at her with her eyes.

Finally, she sighed. "At least take a shower and go change your clothes. You smell horrible." She had stormed out Sakura's house in defeat. "Don't worry! I'll be back!" She yelled at Sakura, shaking her fists, before leaving.

Then Naruto:

"Sakura-chan… I know this is hard for you. But please get yourself back together. Teme isn't worth your time and tears. He didn't and still doesn't deserve your love. Don't cry over a bastard like him! You can do so much better." He had told her, his sapphire eyes shining with emotion and love for his friend, his hands shaking in sadness and anger for his friend.

He had stormed into her house a week after Ino appeared. Naruto had been anxious to see her, but let Ino visit her first, hoping that she would bring some sense into her. But it had not worked and here he was, on her couch right next to her sad, depressed, lonely self after he had broken the door of her house down into smithereens.

Her eyes were blank like before with Ino, staring for on and on at nothing. "I…love…him…how…could…have….he…done…this…to…me?" she managed to choke out this time. "You…don't…understand." Tears began to flow freely down her face once again. One teardrop broke the dam, as she began to bawl loudly. Her eyes had been red-rimmed and bloodshot.

"You're right. I don't know." For once the blonde bubbling fox boy was quiet. He only glanced at his friend sadly before silently exiting the house. He had given up. Sakura later on couldn't help and think in disgust for how pathetic he was for giving up on her so early, if he tried harder, he may have saved her.

Even Kakashi had tried: daring to show his face after trying to shy away from all the other members of team seven. He had brought take-out from Ichiraku ramen and her favorite kind of ramen noodles. He had placed the steaming bowl of ramen in front of her.

For once, the lazy good-natured porn-reading silver haired man had been serious, as he had sat before her. He was never a one to comfort people. "Sakura…" He started out gently, while gently sipping some miso soup. "I know it hurts. Unbelievable or not, your old sensei went through something similar. It takes time to heal, time to realize, and time… to understand and accept. Love hurts and it always will."

Her sensei rarely ever showed tenderness or emotion. She still remembered how uncomfortable he was, how he bristled and wouldn't stop tapping his left foot. She knew he has had a hard life, becoming an adult at young age, born in a constant-war era, and losing everyone precious to him. It was hard for him. She had wanted to believe her sensei and cry in his arms, while he held her. She had wanted to believe him. But she couldn't. The hard, cold, emotionless Kakashi from Team 7 meetings telling her to try harder, go faster, and put more effort still lingered in her mind. For some reason, he was the only Kakashi she remembered. This new tender and caring Kaka-sensei had been new.

She knew from the time he first saw her at the academy, he thought she was a hopeless girl not fit to be a ninja, only head over heels in a foolish school girl crush on her teammate, assuming she would be the weakest member in the team and pose to only be a problem in the future. That was true at first, Sakura had a quick, tactful, smart, strong, strategic mind and a weak body and she had been only preoccupied with Sasuke, not bothering about him or Naruto. The girl who had no opinion, who always agreed with Sasuke no matter what. The girl who probably could never be useful, who would be stuck behind, tagging along behind them. He had made no attempt to help her, when she had trouble doing jutsus and exercises and warm-ups that Sasuke and Naruto could do easily. Frankly, he had been fed up and tired of her. He would only get irritated when he saw she couldn't do it and would order her to do a hundred more of something she didn't have the physically capability to do. Instead, he focused his attention Naruto and mainly on Sasuke. He rarely praised her and the only time Sakura could remember he had complimented her was way back in their genin days for excellent chakra control, for sending enough chakra to her feet, making her able to walk up the trees quickly before Sasuke and Naruto.

There were so many times when Sakura tried so hard but was too weak to do anything. It made her feel small, useless, hopeless, and stupid. It was the main reason, why she had marched straight up to Tsunade's office and begged to be her apprentice, so she could be stronger and do something to help her teammates instead of trying so hard and failing.

But even so, after she had become strong, she had gotten almost nothing from him, except for a mildly surprised expression when she had punched the ground and earth and dirt had split and cracked under him during the second bell test with Naruto. He had been more impressed by Naruto improvement than hers. He had finally learned how to control that immerse chakra from nine-tails that was in him. Jiraiya's training had really impressed him.

Not to mention, he had ignored Naruto and Sakura numerous times after Sasuke had left the village. She had rarely seen him and when she did, he had made no effort to greet her and would disappear in a poof with that stupid, smutty book of his.

She had desperately wanted to accept this new kinder Kaka-sensei. But she couldn't, it had probably been an act. She had refused to listen to her heart. She had used her head.

"…What…do…you…know? … You never liked me… You…thought…Naruto…..and…him…were…always…better…you…think…I'm weak…" Her voice was cracking. Tears were falling faster than before, as she had refused to look at him. Her lips were cracked and bleeding and stung slightly as she tasted her own salty tears. Her nose had been dripping.

Her pink unruly, messy, frizzy, greasy hair that hadn't been brushed in weeks covered her eyes. She had buried her head in her hands, releasing heart-rattling sobs.

"Please…leave…me…alone." She managed to say.

"Sakura…" His voice had been desperate and sad. But he had obeyed her wishes.

She hadn't seen the look on his face when he left. Later on, she wondered whether he had been sad, angry, upset or had felt nothing.

Days began to pass by, weeks, and soon months. Many so-called "friends" had visited her and had tried to encourage her to get back on her feet. But it had done nothing to help; their useless sucking-up didn't flatter her. She knew they felt guilty about what happened.

But slowly, step by step like a small toddler learning how to walk, she began to pick the broken pieces of herself. She began to heal by herself. But it was obvious she would never be the same.

She began to realize and grasp the situation. And she began to accept. But she would never forgive. She began to withdraw from the world in her head she had hid in for the past few months and adjust to everyday to life.

She started to sleep again, since she was so tired and had not been able to sleep those past few months with her mind such a mess. It had been a dreamless but peaceful slumber. She needed to regain her energy.

Whatever what it had seemed to be forever, the first thing, she did after she woke up, was take a shower, which she hadn't done in the past few months. It had felt so good, while she was washing all the dirt and grime that accumulated on her, she was also washing away her old, past, pathetic self, the horrible memories of the past few months. She was throwing the past away and had been reborn, starting over new.

She tried on a new change of clothes, only to discover they were too big, loosely hanging of her frame. She had lost some poundage since that day. But she didn't care. She had in the past, always been trying to some weight and now she had finally done that, but now it didn't matter much.

And then she did the task that she had been afraid to do these past months: was step outside her house. She had inhaled the scent of earth and grass and the scents of spices and foods mixed in: was the familiar smell of the village.

The moment she stepped out of her small house, heads turned left and right in curiosity and shock. She could feel everyone's eyes on her and smiled a thin-lipped but genuine smile. No one greeted her as she walked briskly through the village.

She had only one destination in mind: The Hokage tower in her mind. She burst through the large, looming and almost forbidding doors of the tower.

"Where's Tsunade-sama? I need to speak to her." She asked the receptionist coolly, her face an emotionless mask.

The receptionist didn't bother to look at her. "She's busy. You can't be anyone to see the Hokage-sama, you know." She said, clearly looking busy, as she had been scribbling down and staring at some paperwork, which her desk was full to the brim of.

"Do you know who I am?" Sakura's voice contained no anger but was icy.

Finally, the receptionist looked up and gulped. A young girl probably no older than Sakura and no doubt new to the job. "Ah, sorry… Sakura-sama!" It had seemed she had forgotten Sakura's name but finally remembered in the last few moments. "She's in her office. Go on right ahead and see her!" She managed to say.

Sakura paid no attention to the young receptionist as she stormed towards Tsunade's office.

"Sakura?" She said. Shock was apparent on Tsunade's face. For once, her shishou was sober. It was unusual for a sake bottle not to accompany Tsunade. Usually, empty green sake bottles were rolling all over the place and littered the floor and Sakura had been the one always to pick them up. Tsunade looked better than she had been in ages. Her complexion was fairer and she seemed to be a little healthier but of course like always she was tired.

She stared her mentor and her teacher straight in the eye. She had decided to skip over greetings and get straight to the point. "Shishou. I want to join ANBU. I no longer want to work at the hospital."

Tsunade's jaw dropped, obviously in surprise. Surely, she had wanted to protest but she decided against it and kept her mouth shut. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips, obviously looking unhappy about Sakura request. "… Fine" She sighed as she looked at her young apprentice. "Are you sure about this, Sakura?" She asked her apprentice warily. "Is this what you want? ANBU is no easy job. Life is hard and there so much you must sacrifice to commit to ANBU."

Her eyes were fixed on Tsunade. Her drive to do more, learn more, experience more, and to become stronger was leading. The ache in her, the determination, the impulse, rapacity to become one of the ANBU was clear. "I know. I know ANBU is a strict and highly secretive and dangerous organization. I am willing to give up anything to join. I have no qualms. I want to join."

She peered sorrowfully at the younger women, her arms crossed, making her ample bust even bigger. "Sakura, you aren't doing this because of…him?" She had trailed off.

Sakura's posture had immediately stiffened. So many emotions had swirled through her mind at the mention of him.

"No. Shishou, I'm not doing this for him. I'm doing this for myself. I need to allow myself to move on and I want a new assignment, I'm tired of working at the hospital." She told her former teacher gently.

Her shoulders sagged in defeat as she gave up. "Alright, Sakura. I'll arrange for you to take the ANBU exam as soon as possible." She said hastily. Her sharp features softened for a moment. "But remember, Sakura, if ANBU doesn't go so well, you are always welcomed back here or if you ever need any help ever, please let me know. I'm always here for you." She told Sakura with obvious fondness for her former student. She slid a comforting slim hand over Sakura's bony pale hand and squeezed it for a brief moment.

Then there was silence. Sakura regarded her teacher with pure appreciation, affection and sadness. Her eyes and expression were emotional. It had been a mournful moment since they had both known that Sakura would not come back again or ask Tsunade for help.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama. Thank you for everything." She whispered, bowing down before her as a sign of respect, before leaving.

As she strolled through the familiar yet so unfamiliar cobblestone streets of Konoha, her heart felt considerably lighter but was still heavy like a sinking stone in water. She felt holes burned in her back from the glares, the citizens of Konoha directed at her and the stares from curious villagers. She paid for a meager amount of food and sanitary items at the grocery store before deciding to go for shopping for clothes.

In the past, Sakura had always been excited about shopping. She usually had gotten a joy from searching for the best quality clothes, trying them on and seeing how it looked in the mirror. But not anymore, shopping now felt like an annoying everyday task like washing the dishes or taking out the task. She brushed off greetings from former acquaintances and friends as she entered the store.

She listlessly searched clothing rack after rack for clothes that seemed comfortable, easy to move, and somehow or somewhat appealed to her. She tried on the clothes she had picked out in the dressing room in front of a mirror, not caring if she looked good in them only bothering to see if they fit.

After she had bought her purchased items, Sakura took a quick look at the weapons store, buying some shruikens and kunais amongst some other weapons. It had been quite some time for her to buy and upgrade weapons and besides a ninja could never have too many weapons, which were quite useful battle and could sometimes even be one's trump card.

She went home only to leave all of her newly purchased items before heading to team seven's training grounds. It was a lonely place with an abundant amount of land, trees, and not to mention booby-traps. But many of team seven's memories had taken place there, from the time they had been small-fry genins. Recently, it had been a deserted area since no one in team seven had ever bothered much to visit anymore. As the wind howled, causing the trees billow violently, Sakura found herself drifting down memory lane, thinking about the past.

So much had changed since that day that Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had graduated from the academy, waiting in that small steamy classroom waiting for their new sensei, glaring at each other.

Team Seven from the beginning had been an odd team. Naruto - the strange, young bumbling blonde who had been the outcast of the village, Sasuke - the sulky, handsome, always scowling, ever-so popular, Uchiha avenger, who had lost his entire family when his elder brother had decided to kill them all except him, for some odd reason on that one faithful night, Kaka-sensei – the weird, cryptic, perverted, always late, funny, strict, strong, laid-back jounin, who had been the prodigy of his time, and her, Sakura – the stupid but smart, weak, skinny, frail, whiny, pink-haired girl with a big forehead, who didn't come from any prestigious ninja clan or have any kind of bloodline, and was the first one to be a ninja in her family.

Team seven had been shaky, at least. It had been every man for himself; everyone had their own selfish goals and dreams for themselves. Then slowly, each practice session and each mission whether it was a B-ranked mission or a D-rank mission had brought them together, bringing them closer together. Friendships and bonds of trust had been formed.

So much had changed again, that night Sasuke left the village for Orochimaru, knocking out Sakura, his last words to her on that night had only been mere "Thank You" after she had proclaimed her love and her life for him.

The friendships and bonds and promises they had all made had been shattered and were finished that night. There was no Team Seven after that night. Only a broken-hearted girl, boy, sensei who had been determined to bring him back. She had never been the same that night. That was the night, she vowed she would change and she did. But now she realized that she still had a long way too go. She had been too soft as a ninja, always expressing her expressions, easy to read like a book.

But now she would change. She had already changed once again after that day Sasuke had announced his engagement.

The pain from him breaking her heart was slowly dissolving, it but it would never completely fade.

She no longer felt sad. But she was boiling over with anger and hatred for her former child hood love. He had ruined her beyond repair and made her life a mess. Her heart was now twisted, bitter, black, hole in her chest.

But she had learned a valuable lesson. Sasuke had never and probably will never care for anyone. The man was unable to feel anything except anger and hatred. And now, she had become like him. That didn't bother as much as it should have. She was stronger, harder than him mentally not to mention she had an eerie sense of calmness.

Even if Sasuke had chosen her over Karin, Sakura knew she would be trapped in an unhappy, decaying marriage that would leave her extremely bitter. She was headstrong and it wasn't her nature to be Sasuke's ideal wife: an obedient woman who would do whatever he would say. The only exception was that, she had truly loved him with all heart and was willing to do pretty much anything for him. So, she would have reluctantly bowed down to him just to stay with him.

But that would no longer ever happen; she was saved for that possible event in the future. Because she no longer felt anything for him anymore, except for dull regret, blinding anger, and numbing hatred.

She didn't really have any regrets, except that she lost whatever friendships, connections, and bonds she had with any friends. She had lost contact with all of them, they had stopped visiting her a long time back and she certainly didn't feel like calling or visiting them. She was quite sure they didn't want to do anything with her anymore and held remorse and guilt for her. She had learned they weren't true friends over these past months, only fair weather friends. And she didn't need any friends, if they were to abandon here and shun her when she had hit rock bottom and didn't truly attempt to help her.

Her mind finally came back to reality when wind gently tickled her pink hair. It was time to do what she had come for, which was not going memory lane. She balled her hands into fists and her knees slightly bent as she began to channel chakra to her fists, ready to punch the living daylight out of anything.

It was time to train for the ANBU exam. The ANBU exam was no doubt mercilessly difficult, only the best could get in. ANBU stood for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, the Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. There was no pity. You absolutely had to be unrivaled and basically had to ace the test if you wanted to get in. You had to be strong; both mentally and physically, ready to endure anything. Not to mention, Ibiki Morino, the crazy examiner from the chunin exam is the head of ANBU and is also the main judge along with some other spectators who are also from ANBU squads of the exam. Sakura couldn't be a pansy, if she wanted to get in. She needed to train.

She began to throw punches and kicks channeled with chakra at a wooden dummy. She soon built up her chakra and released it, destroying the dummy. Dirt sprayed everywhere as the earth shook, and a crevasse began to appear in the ground. Not bad. But the destruction was just starting. This was nothing. With out blinking an eye, she turned the trees around her into rubble.

The cloudless blue sky began to turn an inky black, and soon dawn came. Days began to turn into nights. As weeks turned into a month or two.

She didn't stop to eat or drink, her limbs only repeated the same moves over again and again in an endless pattern, only switching stances to change exercises and attacks. Blood was smeared all over her and freely flowing and she was covered in sweat.

With a grim determination, her teeth were gritted and her eyes were passive as she tore down the training grounds apart. Her strength this time was clearly fueled with anger. And with each move, her anger began to diminish. But she would not stop until she reached her goal. She wouldn't fail this time, no matter what.

PLAYLIST:

The kill – 30 Seconds to Mars

In the end – Linkin Park

I don't love you – My Chemical Romance

The Attack – 30 seconds to mars

Just like you – Three Days Grace

And pretty much anything else that's whiny, emo, rock, loud, and has a ton of screaming…

Author's note:

I know many of you want to throttle me and strangle me and etc. I haven't updated in some time. But this time, it actually wasn't my fault. I'm on vacation and was prepared to be relaxed and to work some more on my stories since I didn't get much time to focus on most of them this year. Except, my laptop broke down on me exactly the way it did last year and it's eerie. My hard drive was overloaded and so my laptop broke just like it did last year. I had to call dell and this time I had to send my laptop back and since apparently there wasn't anything they could do for it and they offered to send me a new one in return. But what I didn't know that it would take three extremely long weeks for my new laptop to come. Not to mention, I had to retrieve the memory from the hard drive of my old computer so I could transfer all my data to my new laptop. Finally, one of my buddies who's a computer whiz managed to do that and so now I finally have everything: My new laptop, (which is by the way, extremely nice, loaded with the latest version of Corel paint shop pro photo XI, a DVD player/burner, and brand new. My old laptop was falling apart and extremely dirty.), the data from my old laptop including all the latest chapters for most of my stories, and inspiration, which I really needed.

This story was just a minor side idea that got stuck in my head, while my laptop was broken and I had no way to type something up or use the internet. It bothered me so much, that I started writing it in a notebook and finally typed it up. Here's the result: A sad, tragic story focused on some of the not so pleasant aspects of reality and life such as rejecting, being shunned, being not loved, surrendering to your demons and etc, based on the years I lived in a hellish town, labeled as a freak and an monster, the rejection I received from a person I had truly loved at the same time and everything seemed to just crumble.

This story will be short and sweet, straight to the point mostly, just a small side project. It WILL be done by the end of August or September.