The first time he saw her. Dirty blonde messy hair, yet so neat tied back in a ponytail, a school uniform with variations added. Emerald eyes peeked at everything in the world; and her smile was warm, inviting, and friendly. He didn't care. He knew she would be the same as all the other girls. Squealing, giggling, and swooning for no apparent reason. And then there was the fact that they were just so annoying.
"Hey...You're Uzumaki Naruto right?" She said to his teammate. "You're amazing! You're the strongest person ever!" His eyes shot open at this.
"Oh! Jealous are we Sasuke~? Yeah that's right! For once you're NOT the center of attention!" Naruto yelled at him. Sasuke glared at Naruto and looked strangely at the girl, when his sensei called them to training.
"Aren't you a ninja?" He asked the strange girl when she didn't follow. She began to laugh, for reasons he didn't know.
"Hah! No! Are you kidding me? I'd be the worst ninja ever! I would be such a fail! By the way, my name's Catherine." Sasuke turned and began to walk away when she called him back. "Hey! I don't even get an introduction? What's your deal?" Sasuke turned his head and looked her up and down.
"You need to clean yourself up before someone thinks you're naturally that ugly." Catherine stood there, her fist shaking, anger jolting through her veins. "Go ahead, you said yourself you wouldn't make a very good ninja. I bet a punch wouldn't even hurt, so go on, hit me. I'm not afraid." Their sensei, Kakashi, became worried. He knew Catherine very well, and if her temper got to her, he might have to take Sasuke to the hospital. She walked over to Sasuke, her fist still shaking, her eyes glaring at him. "See? I told you, you can't do it. Now go run home to-" Her fist made contact with his cheek bone and sent him back a couple feet.
"Is that all you care about?" She yelled at him. "No wonder you're an idiot! The first thing you do when you see someone that doesn't fit your "ideal description" is pass them off and not care! How do you plan to live like that? Oh look! I don't like the way you look Sasuke, I think I'll punch you in the face just because I don't like the way you look! For your information: YOU'RE SO STUPID!" She grabbed his collar and punched him in the same spot. "I hope that hurts." She turned around to leave, stopping and turning her head to face him. "I may not be ninja material, but that doesn't mean I'm not strong. Don't underestimate me."
After taking Sasuke to the hospital to fix his now nearly broken cheek, Kakashi sighed and sat down in the waiting chair.
"Is she always like that?" Naruto asked. Kakashi groaned.
"No. That's the horrible thing. She's the sweetest thing in the entire world, it is impossible to hate her if you get on good terms with her, but once her temper gets loose all hell breaks out. She is the nicest person though."
Sasuke soon found that out. After a month or so people began to just gather around her as if she was the moon and they were moths. She would walk in the room and they would greet her, her greeting back kindly. She never liked Sasuke though. Since day one when he insulted her she'd hated him. However, the more she hated him, the more he longed for the one smile she would give everyone but him. So he started trying to talk to her. Each day he'd do something new, trying to start a conversation, or offer to walk her home. She refused each time.
"Sasuke?" He turned immediately at her voice. Catherine blew her bangs out of her face and looked him in the eye. "Do you...like me? I mean, like me like me."
"Do I like you?" Catherine nodded. "No."
"Oh. Ok then. I'll see you tomorrow." She turned to walk off when he tapped her shoulder. "Is there something you needed?" She offered.
"I wasn't finished. No, I don't like you, but I do..." He paused to look in her eyes. "...Love you. And I wanted to say I was sorry...for what I said the first day-"
"Don't be." Sasuke looked at her. "It was your opinion; you had a right to say it. I had a personal goal of proving to the world that looks aren't everything and personality was. You just kind of proved it. But, I do want to say I'm sorry for punching you and I'm sorry...I don't return the feelings."
"Hn. Can I walk you home at least?" Catherine laughed.
"Hah sure. The least I can do for breaking a heart." So he walked her home, most of the time it was quiet, but they talked a bit about things that came to mind. When they finally got to her house she opened the door and turned around. "Thank you, and sorry again. Bye Sasuke." And she gave him a smile, the one he needed to see.
Mission Accomplished.
"Do you remember Sasuke?" Catherine asked. "Do you remember the last two times you saw me?" Sasuke closed his eyes, the images coming to his mind.
Sasuke had just finished knocking Sakura out, when he saw Catherine walking towards him.
"You going to try and stop me too? I guarantee it won't work." She shook her head.
"No. I know stopping you is a lost cause. I'm not going to try. I just wanted to say I know that you need your revenge on your brother for killing the clan and I know you won't rest until you do so but...it's a bit sad there's nothing here that could help you. You've changed a lot Sasuke. You're not the same person I knew a couple months ago." Sasuke started to walk away, when he turned his head back to her.
"Catherine." Sasuke stopped. He smiled at her, not a classic smirk, or a fake smile. A genuine smile, one just for her. "Don't ever change." And she watched his back as his shadow faded into the darkness.
She went with the team when the followed Sasuke. She followed them in secret, not taking the exact same path they did.
The end of Naruto and Sasuke's fight came as she walked towards the water fall. Naruto had fallen, Sasuke standing above him in the rain, leaving his headband behind.
"Who's there!" Sasuke demanded. Catherine hid out of instinct, and slowly came out from behind the tree. "You followed me!" He harshly spoke.
"I'm sorry." Catherine whispered. "I..." A small tear trickled down her cheek. "Don't leave." She whispered to herself.
"Catherine." Sasuke started, walking over to her. "I still love you." He brushed his lips against hers, and disappeared.
"Sasuke!" Catherine called. She looked over at Naruto, lying unconscious on the ground. She sat beside him, and put him on her lap to shield him from the pouring rain. It wasn't long before Kakashi arrived and handled the situation.
"Now...everything's different. I have become "The Traveler". Said to have come from another world altogether, and the most powerful ninja in the world." Sasuke sighed deeply. "I started to hate you after you left. I thought it was because you were so ignorant and blind, but when I really thought about it I found my reason for hating you was because when you left, you hurt the people closest to me. They suffered, so I built anger. You hurt them...and you hurt...me Sasuke."
Finally he'd gotten his revenge. This time, he was going to return to the village for good. He walked with his team he created, when he caught a glimpse of something in the light. Familiar emerald eyes poured into his from the far distance, and disappeared. Sasuke immediately ran after it, intrigued by the mystery. He was almost sure it was this "traveler" he had heard of everywhere; the person wore a robe with a very unique symbol on the back, one he never saw before. He could see a blur as he followed it, sleeves going past the traveler's hands, ripped at the ends. On the bottom the robe was short in the front and long in the back, also ripped. The person stopped, and Sasuke gasped.
"Shit. Kakashi!" She breathed, taking off back in the direction Sasuke's team was in. He caught a glimpse of Catherine's face before taking off after her.
"Catherine...?" Kakashi breathed, his body drenched in blood. He looked up at her face.
"Please don't leave me!" She begged, tears streaming down her face.
"Now now, there's no need for tears. I'm still here to wipe them away." He smiled through his mask, touching her face. A light emitted from Catherine's body, giving Kakashi her chakra. Soon one of Konoha's reinforcements came, but by then Catherine had given Kakashi most of her chakra. "Don't you dare die on me." He said, as he knew she had some unfinished business.
"Is it really you?" Sasuke spoke, turning Catherine's head. "After all these years, I see the grown you?" He stepped closer to her, when she threw a kunai at him.
"I hate you! If you hadn't stalked me Kakashi wouldn't have almost died back there! This is all because of you! I HATE YOU!" She screamed, her face soaking wet. Sasuke heard a chuckle and before he could think he took his sword and slashed out at an enemy about to attack Catherine, piercing his stomach. In a flash the man was gone, behind Sasuke with a kunai. "NO!" She screamed, taking one of her own and stabbing the man. When Sasuke turned around, both were covered in blood, Catherine's kunai piercing the enemy's heart while his tearing her right shoulder apart.
The beeping of her heart rate monitor was driving Sasuke insane. He looked at her faded green eyes again. She glanced at him, and began to laugh.
"It's a funny story you know. About us?" Catherine spoke, her voice hoarse and dry. "But, I'm sorry, for saying I hated you, because I didn't, and I don't. I was sad and angry and I blamed it on you when I shouldn't have. Will you forgive me?"
"Always. I'm sorry for leaving you. Except, I can't really apologize for something that big." Catherine laughed again.
"Tell Kakashi I'm sorry please." She asked. Sasuke looked at her puzzled.
"Why?" Sasuke asked. Catherine sighed.
"Sasuke-kun, do you remember what you said to me, before you left?" He looked at her into her eyes. She reached up and touched his face softly, the one beautiful smile shining on her face. "I still love you."
And then her heart monitor went blank.