Love, Hate, and the Agony In-between
EDIT 2/9/14: I've gotten rid of a few of the OC's who didn't make the cut when I was re-writing my plot plans. They just weren't needed and I want to avoid using them. Also cleaned up the spelling and grammar a bit. This chapter was originally written on Aug 31, 2011. Wow.
Hello, and welcome to the rewrite of The Good Girls That Went Bad. How do you like the new title?
Warning: Changing of Character Personalities, Some Characters Created by Yours Truly, Maybe a Mention of Slash Later in the Story (still unsure but if you have a request I can try to put it in), and Slight Doses of Crack. I think that's it . . .
If I owned Naruto, Sasuke wouldn't be evil and he would drop the 'I-Must-Kill-My-Only-Living-Relative' thing. But I don't own Naruto, and Sasuke isn't my character.
Chapter One- Already Gone
Sakura Haruno
Sakura Haruno had once been a respected shinobi of Konoha. She had once been thought of quite highly in the minds of her fellow shinobi, having been trained by the Hokage herself. She was once a friend to all and many wished for her strength, both emotionally and physically.
But that was then, and this is now.
Now, Sakura Haruno was walking up the stairs that would take her to her teacher's office. The day hadn't been the best for her.
A week prior to the day, she and her best friend Ino Yamanaka, a fellow shinobi from a small but strong clan, had made plans to spend the day together shopping and possibly getting a bit of pampering at the spa or hot springs on their days off, but Ino had canceled at the last minute, saying that she and her boyfriend were going on a surprise picnic and that the rest of her day was full. Sakura couldn't help but be a bit mad at the blond for the sudden change of plans, especially when said blond had been making a habit of it for the past month.
So, with her morning empty and nothing to do, she had decided to spend a bit of time with her close friend Hinata Hyuga. Hinata had been having a sparring match with her elder cousin, the genius prodigy of the Hyuga clan, Neji. She stayed to the sidelines and watched the fight from the shade. This sparing match was a far cry from the battle the cousins had had during the Chunnin exams so long ago. Hinata was able to hold her own against her cousin now. She had learned grace and speed through the years and it made her battle look like a dance.
Amaya Hyuga, a relative from the main house and a friend of Neji and Hinata, noticed Sakura and asked her to join them for a late breakfast, gaining Hinata's attention. Interrupting the fight with a cheerful yell and an invitation for Hinata and Amaya to join her on a walk around the village shops didn't take long. Hinata had eagerly accepted, grateful for the break, but Amaya had plans to help Sasuke Uchiha move into his old house, so the two younger girls had left.
It was on that walk that Sakura found her boyfriend of two months, Kiba, in a sweet kiss with a pretty blond. It hurt pretty bad when she realized that said blond was a co-worker at the hospital. She was pretty sure that Kiba's face hurt even more after she had gotten through with him though. She is willing to admit that she had gone a bit over board, had caused a big scene with all her yelling, and may have terrified Akamaru when she snarled at them. If Hinata had not managed to calm her down when she did, Sakura is fairly sure that more than Kiba's nose would have been broken.
Sakura wasn't exactly hurt by Kiba's betrayal. They had never been serious about each other and, truth be told, Sakura had been expecting such a thing. It was the fact that Kiba would actually prefer that quiet, modest, little civilian Riku over Sakura. Riku, with her curly blond hair and her pretty brown eyes and her cute laugh.
'What is so amazing about Riku anyway?' Sakura thought. 'Riku is hardly even above academy standers when it comes to strength and chakra skill. I guess that she is a good nurse and she's studying to become a civilian doctor and she is really very cute, but I'm a better one and I'm just as attractive as she is!'
'Damn right we are!' Inner Sakura added. Sakura let out a short huff in aggravation. Even if it was nearly four hours ago and Sakura herself had calmed down (to a degree), Inner was still spitting fire. Sakura wasn't sure if it was a good thing, bad thing, or something to worry over. It showed that she and Inner were starting to differ, if only slightly. Inner was a grudge holder, she could remember things from infancy, she was always eager to fight, and she was always one to, ahem, appreciate an attractive male (Sasuke Uchiha) from the village. Sakura had slowly matured through the years, she learned to let go and let bygones be bygones, she had to rely on Inner to remind her of most social appointments since her memory always spaced them out, she had learned to hold herself back and let rational thinking take place, if only for the briefest second, before she charged into battle, and she knew that her life was far too busy at the time for a serious relationship.
In truth, Sakura was a bit scared of the changes. Inner had always been like her, always. Inner had been the part of her that held her back from, Inner was the part of her that spoke her true thoughts; Inner was a part of Sakura, and for Inner to start changing like this scared her.
Shaking her head to lose those thoughts, Sakura continued on her walk to the Hokage's office. Even though it was barely noon, she felt tired. She wanted to go home and sleep. She didn't want to train with Tsunade today; she just wasn't up to it.
'We have already missed the last three training sessions, Tsunade's mad enough!' Inner told her, a slight hint of fear in her voice. Sakura wanted to groan, but she held it in. Complaining would get her nowhere. Sakura turned and came to the door of Tsunade's office and heard a muffled voice saying something along the lines of 'Excellent' before she entered.
"-ent, Akima, Excellent!" Tsunade praised softly. Her hazel brown eyes examined the brown rabbit who sat on her desk with a small patch of blood on its back. Tsunade brushed the soft fur aside to check for any mistakes, and then used a swipe of her chakra to make sure. "You did wonderful. And you say you have never had training?" Tsunade leaned back on her chair, making herself comfortable.
"No, madam Hokage, I have not. The village I came from was a non-shinobi one," Akima said sweetly.
Akima Niwa, age nineteen, had come to the village about a year ago, after deciding to leave her home village to explore and travel. When she came to Konoha, she became fond of the village and decided to settle down here. She soon gained an innocent reputation for being a shameless flirt and a not so innocent one for being a home wreaking bitch, enchanting men all over the village with her dark brown eyes, long curly red hair, and curvy body.
"You did wonderfully, Akima," Shizune, who stood to the side with TonTon in her arms, added in. "With a bit of training, you may even surpass me and Sakura."
'Oh Hell to the No!' Sakura couldn't help but totally and utterly agree with Inner.
After that pleasant little comment, Sakura fully entered the office. Her head was angled downward enough so that the other occupants of the room wouldn't see the chaotic mix of emotions otherwise known as her eyes and made sure the door made a noise when she closed it. She risked a short glance upward to see if her presence was noticed, and was pleased to see that it was.
"I apologize, Tsunade-Sama, I didn't know that you were having a meeting. Do you want me to come back later?" Her voice was nothing but politeness and sweetness. She plastered a small, slightly embarrassed smile on her lips. She kept her eyes trained off the side.
"No, Sakura. We are done here. Akima, I will notify you later about what time your lessons will be."
Akima slowly drew a deep breath in, her brown eyes becoming a bit larger as she did so. The red head then let out a short, but high pitched, scream and clapped her hands together while she jumped up and down a bit. Tsunade and Shizune watched in amusement, Sakura in annoyance; the girl should know how to control herself, if only a bit, when she stood before the Hokage. Akima soon stopped her jumping and clapping, instead covering her full lips with one hand, fanning herself with the other, and thanking Tsunade a dozen times.
Tsunade chuckled a bit before she waved her hand at Akima, silently telling her to leave. Akima did so quickly; her amazingly cute black heals clicking as she ran down the hall. 'Probably eager to tell her friends the good news.'
"Friends'? Is that what they call them these days?'
"Sakura, I am surprised that you showed up this time." There was a disapproving tone in the busty woman's voice.
Sakura kept her eyes down when she spoke. "I apologize for not coming in the past few days. It well not happen again." There was a long pause after Sakura's short apology. Tsunade then huffed, sounding agitated and Sakura knew she was probably wishing for a bottle of sake. "Look at me now, Sakura."
Sakura wished she had ignored the direct order. Tsunade looked like she was about to give a suicide mission to someone.
"You enjoy being a medic nin, right?"
"Of course, Tsunade-Sama." Sakura said slowly. She didn't like where this was going.
Tsunade stood from her desk and turned to look out the large windows of her office, her reflection showing a stern and youthful face. "With how you have been acting the past few days I question if you do. You have been missing training sessions with me and Kakashi tells me that you have recently been slaking on missions."
Sakura tried to ignore Inner as she threw a fit over how Kakashi was making a big deal out of her falling behind a bit on their last mission; she had been poisoned damn it! How was she supposed to be in top condition after that!
"You know that you are one of my prized students, Sakura, and how you behave reflects on me. You are a wonderful medic, there is no denying that, but since you seem to think that you are more advanced then anyone in the village it makes me wonder if I should continue to keep you as a student." Sakura flinched violently, both from the news and from the look of pity that Shizune offered her. Tsunade continued to look down at the streets of Konoha.
"Akima is new to the shinobi world, and she is not highly thought of in the village, but she has amazing talent. She is able to do things that took you months to learn. I have decided to take her in as my new student," Tsunade told her.
Sakura saw red. "How can you be so foolish!?" Sakura yelled. Tsunade turned around to look at Sakura, giving the younger girl a warning glare. "I had been twelve when you began teaching me, Akima is nineteen; of course she will be more advanced! Her chakra is more matured then mine! And how do you know that she hasn't had training in the past and just didn't tell you this so you would think she is a healing prodigy of some sorts?
"Have you even bothered to do some form of research on her?! She could be a spy from a different village for all we know, but you blindly trust her! And yes, I have been unable to come to the last few training sessions, but only because the hospital has become so busy! If you actually came and helped some of the patients there, things may calm down a bit, have you even thought of that?" Sakura would have gladly continued, but Shizune decided to intervene at this time and forced her hand over Sakura's mouth and shoving the young pinkett until they were as far away from the furious Hokage as the room would allow them.
The throbbing vein in Tsunade's forehead looked about ready to burst and the blonde's fist were shaking. Her eyes were tightly shut and her lips were sneering. In general, Tsunade did not look like a happy camper. Light eyes filled with anger snapped open at the same time a fist slammed against an abused desk and a large chair fell to the floor as Tsunade stood.
(POP QUIZ- If you were Sakura at this moment in time would you A) Piss yourself B) Run like hell and hide under your bed or C) Glare at the enraged woman who could kill you? I'll give you some time to think about it.
. . .
. . . Done? Good! Personally, I would have gone with B, but lets see what Sakura Haruno chose!)
Sakura glared at Tsunade, not willing to back down or show her fear. (Smart choice, huh?)
"Don't you dare speak to me in such a way, Haruno! I am the Hokage of this village and I demand respect! As of now, you are no longer my student and your roll as head medic at the hospital has been revoked! Now get out of my office and do not come back unless I call for you!"
A brief silence.
A slamming of a door.
An exhausted groan.
Shizune, an order of sake, please?
Love, Hate, and the Agony In-Between
Sakura Haruno wanted to scream. She wanted to throw something and punch a few things and maybe bite the next person who looked at her funny. Her face was red with anger and if you managed to hear some of the things coming from her mouth, you would have to wonder exactly where she learned so many colorful words.
It is no surprise that word of Sakura's anger reached the members of Team Kakashi within the hour. They, being the wonderful teammates they are, decided to take a break from helping Sasuke move back into the abandoned Uchiha compound and check up on the girl. They couldn't say they were surprised when they found Sakura in the training grounds, putting large craters in the ground and knocking trees over. The male members of the team glanced at each other.
"I'm not going in there," Sasuke informed the others. Being in his childhood home was stressful enough, he wasn't dealing with a pissed of Sakura Haruno too. The four men were hidden within the shadows of a large oak tree, praying to god that Sakura didn't decide to take some anger out on it.
"Well I'm not going down there either! I like my face the way it is and if I do go down there, I'll say something and then Sakura-Chan will get mad and then I will get hit and it will all just end in a lot of pain for me!" Naruto told them.
"I think we should just leave Ugly alone for a while. Let her get her anger out," Sai suggested. It sounded pretty good to all men, and they stood up to leave.
"You know I can hear you from down here!" Sakura all but snarled at her loving teammates. Another animalistic snarl came from the small teen when she heard four softly spoken curse words come from the tree. Two seconds later, Team Kakashi had their feet firmly on the ground and walking to her.
"We heard about what happened," Sasuke stated. Sakura looked away, turning so that they only saw her back. "Yeah, you and the entire village!" she growled.
"So how bad did she give it to you?" Sai asked. Sakura didn't say anything for a second. "She replaced me as her student. Fucking Akima Niwa! She also removed my status as head medic at the hospital. Do have any idea how long it took me to get were I was!? She destroyed years of work within ten minutes!" Sakura's fist swung out and made contact with a very unfortunate tree. Said tree gave a groan before a series of loud cracks and pops were heard. The tree then fell to the ground.
Kakashi looked up from his book for a second at his old student, and then his attention was drawn back to the book. "She is the Hokage, Sakura; she is allowed to do what she deems necessary."
"It was necessary to humiliate me!?" Sakura snapped.
"Hey, we are only trying to help, Sakura-Chan. We know that you are upset right now, but that doesn't mean you have to take it out on us!" Naruto said, swiftly defending his ex teacher.
"Shut up, Naruto! I do not feel like arguing with you guys!" Sakura suddenly slumped against one of the few trees standing. The young men moved in to make sure she was okay. "Can you guys just leave? I kind of want to be alone."
"Are you sure?" Naruto asked. Sakura nodded once, and the boys left her be. Oddly, even though Sakura had asked them to leave, she felt kind of empty without them around.
Love, Hate, and the Agony In-Between
It was after nearly two hours of intense training that Sakura's stomach made itself known. Sakura paused in her training for a moment. She had skipped lunch, hadn't she?
'We were so upset about Tsunade's betrayal that we completely forgot about it.' Inner informed her. Sakura groaned softly in frustration, placing her forehead in the palm of her hand. 'We might as well go home and shower. Our fridge is bare and we need to do some shopping. We cannot go out in town smelling like this.'
So, the pinkett started on her way home, ignoring every whisper she heard come from the villagers. Konoha is a village full of gossipers. The people of Konoha, civilian or shinobi, thrive on it. It's one of the main sources of entertainment, which is why just about everyone knew at least two versions of what happened with Tsunade this afternoon. Some of the stories can get pretty far fetched, and Sakura wasn't eager to learn them.
After returning to her small apartment, Sakura all but collapsed onto her couch. Sakura huffed and rolled onto her back, then grabbed on of the small peach colored cushions from behind her head, smashed it over her face and screamed loudly into it. After the scream had died, Sakura remained in the same position for a few minutes more. She then sat up, her long legs hanging over the edge of the couch, and threw the cushion against the wall nearest to her. She glared at the limp pillow as it fell to the floor without a sound.
'Today is just not a good day for me,' she thought to herself.
Sakura stood and headed to her small bathroom. She quickly rid herself of her sweaty clothing and threw them inside the half filled laundry basket. She started the shower and briefly waited for the water to turn hot before she got in. After standing in the shower of steamy water for a few moments, allowing the hot liquid to relax her a bit, she started washing herself, rubbing her body down with her scentless soap and lathering her hair with her green apple smelling shampoo and conditioner, then rinsing all of the suds and bubbles away. She stood in the shower again for a few moments before turning the water off and grabbing a soft white towel to wrap around herself.
She left the bathroom and walked into her bedroom. She quickly dried herself, walked to her closet, and debated for a moment. She had no plans for the rest of the evening and she didn't have any missions to do, so why not dress in something comfortable? She chose a simple white top and light blue shorts with her black boots. She blow-dried and combed her short hair before adding a thick white headband. After making sure she looked alright and grabbing enough money, she left her apartment.
After using a few short cuts (which involved some rooftops) she was in the village market. It was less crowded then it had been that morning and Sakura was nothing but grateful for that. It sure as hell didn't stop the looks and whispers, but those could be easily ignored.
As she made her way to a stand belonging to one of her uncles friends who always gave her a nice discount, she passed one of the bars and saw something that simply couldn't be ignored.
"Don't sweat it, Akima-Chan. It's a special day for you and we all want to help you celebrate." Sakura's green eyes narrowed dangerously as she heard the painfully familiar voice. 'It better not be her!'
Ino, who had told her best friend just that morning that her entire day was full and nothing was able to be canceled so they could spend time together, was sitting at the bar between Akima and Kiba, who had Akamaru at his feet. There were about three others in the group, but Ino and Kiba were the only shinobi. Sakura quietly slipped into the bar unnoticed and moved to one of the more shadowed corners, close enough to listen and hopefully not be noticed by them. She cursed herself in her head for wearing such bright clothing, but maybe it would just make her blend more with the civilians.
"Plus, Kiba's paying," Ino finished with a little laugh. Kiba's smile dropped at that and he gave the blond a dirty look.
"Hey, when did I agree to do that?!" Kiba asked her, a bit of a growl in his voice. Sakura rose one pink eyebrow when she saw the top of Akima's head move closer to Kiba's. "Oh, come on, Kiba-kun. Won't you please pay for a drink for two lovely ladies? Hmm? I can always… repay you later tonight if you like."
"Hmm, I like the sound of that, Akima-Chan," Kiba told her, his voice a bit on the husky side. Sakura rolled her eyes. Just this morning it was Riku and now Akima. Kiba was such a dog.
One of the other girls spoke up. "I still cannot believe that you and Sakura broke up. What happened? I've heard at least three different stories." The mention of his ex seemed to snap Kiba out of it, or maybe it was Akamaru's fearful whimpering from the memory of that morning.
"You see, me and my girl Riku sort of bumped into each other on the streets and we started walking and talking. After a while, Riku told me how she wished she could date a guy like me, and I told her that she could have me if she wanted to. I kind of lied and said that Sakura and I had broken up a few days ago and I asked her out. Riku was thrilled, I even got a kiss!" Kiba told them happily. Then his voice turned sour. "But then Sakura and Hinata came around and Sakura flipped! She started bitching about betrayal and unfaithfulness and all that crap. She even broke my nose! Thankfully Hinata was there to calm her down."
"But then I had to deal with Riku. She was upset, of course, and I managed to smooth things out with her, but she told me that the she wouldn't date me until I had learned how to be as loyal as Akamaru." Kiba had to pause in his story as the girls laughed. "Then she left for the market and I thought that things could only get better, right? But then Hinata came around. She lectures me more then my freaking mother, I swear!"
After a short laugh Ino decided to put her two cents in. "I'm surprised by Sakura's reaction, really. I thought she would have gone into a rage or something when she found her boy-toy cheating. God knows how explosive her temper is without help."
"I'm with you on that one, Ino. She inflicts more pain then she manages to heal." Sakura's grip on the table tightened at Akima's words and she tried to remain calm.
"Yeah, but now we have our Akima as a medic!" It didn't really work.
"Why did you even date her, Kiba-Kun?" Akima asked.
"I guess it was just because she was so highly thought of and it would get my ma off my back about finding a good girl. It also doesn't hurt that she has amazing legs and nice eyes," Kiba told them with a shrug.
"I doubt she's gonna be thought of very highly after today. Tsunade did dismiss her as a student, and that was just about all she was known for. Well, other than her temper," Ino added. The wood of the table cracked a bit under Sakura's tight grip.
"I don't even know why she tries. It's pretty obvious that her teammates will always outshine her. She has always lived in their shadows and she always will."
Yep, that did it. The table cracked loudly, and all eyes in the bar were drawn to her. Yes, that includes those who had been bad mouthing her a moment ago.
"S-Sakura?" Ino stuttered.
"Fuck you, Kiba! Fuck you, fuck you, and Fuck You too, Ino! If you cannot say this shit to my face then you are more cowardly then I fucking thought! If you all do not want me around, then I will gladly leave your pathetic lives!"
I think that now is a good time for a dramatic exit, do you? Yeah, it's time for a dramatic exit.
Sakura turned and angrily walked out of the bar, all eyes fallowing her. The young girl broke into a run when she got outside and didn't stop until she was home. She then stomped over to the couch again and grabbed her previously abandoned pillow to scream again. She screamed and screamed until her throat hurt and then she screamed again. After she couldn't scream anymore, she sobbed. The hurt finally set in from the betrayals and the tears wouldn't stop.
'Those assholes,' Inner added. She lacked any spark or actual anger in her words and sounded like she was about to cry herself. 'Sakura, I want Daddy…'
The broken voice of her Inner told Sakura exactly what needed to be done. 'I do too.'
Like it? Love it? Hate it? Tell me!
Next Chapter should be about Hinata and her reasons for leaving. Be prepared for the proper introduction of my main OC, who will be popping up from time to time.
-Well, this turned out different then I expected. I started this out thinking it would be about 3,000 worlds for both girls, but I'm over 5,000 and this is only Sakura. Sorry if it took forever.
EDIT 2/22/14: I've gotten rid of a few of the OC's who didn't make the cut when I was re-writing my plot plans and edited the ones I do have. They just weren't needed and I want to avoid using them.
-Rose