AN:/ So, I was reading through the back of Taylor Swift's Platinum 'Fearless' CD, and there was a little bit of Taylor defining what Fearless meant for her. Well, I had this idea about some of the phrases she wrote in it. It could turn out to be an analogy. But at this point, it can just be a one-shot.
So, here's what happens when plot bunnies attack.
Oh, I nearly forgot. This is my first time trying out sort-of angst. Want to tell me how much it sucks? Review me. :)
By the way, Happy New Year everyone!
EDITED 7/16/2010: Fanfiction deleted my semi-line breaks. Go figure.
Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to Breathe, nor do I own Naruto. Taylor Swift and Kishi-sensei are their owners, respectively, of course.
Fearless Is…
Having the courage to leave someone who only hurts you, even if you can't breathe without them
And we know it's never simple, never easy
Never a clean break, no one's here to save me
You're the only thing I know like the back of my hand
And I can't breathe without you
But I have to.
(Breathe, Taylor Swift)
breathe
"You're gonna have to let go of him one day, Forehead."
"I know, Ino…just… give me time."
"You've had more than two years of time, Sakura."
"I know, Ino… I know."
breathe
Sakura sat on her bed, gazing into the little box with the words 'Memory Box' scrawled over it in Black marker. The lid box had been covered in seashells from Wave and little wilted cherry blossoms from the Sakura tree in Sakura's back yard. Inside Sakura's 'Memory Box' there were many things, but only two pictures. One picture was a picture of Team Seven, before Naruto and Sasuke had left, at Ichiruka, plotting to find out what was under Kakashi-sensei's mask. She laughed when she saw it. That picture was from back when they were innocent, less corrupt by Orochimaru and the Akatsuki.
The other was a tiny picture taken a long time ago, from when Sakura was a little girl, just starting the academy. It was a tearstained picture of Sakura and Sasuke, holding hands and smiling at each other. It had been one of the last times Sakura had seen Sasuke smile.
"I miss you, Sasuke-kun," she whispered to herself. Sakura glanced into the mirror beside her and laughed bitterly. "But, you sure as hell don't miss me, do you?"
The grandfather clock, directly under her bedroom, rang out six clear chimes. Sakura eyes snapped out of their reminiscent glaze.
"Well… I better go. Or I'll be late," she muttered. She picked up her jacket and ran out the door, a tiny picture clutched in her hand.
breathe
"Ino? I think I'm ready to let go off him."
"Forehead? Are you sure?"
"As sure as I'll ever be."
"Bonfire?"
"Bonfire."
breathe
When Sakura arrived at Team 10's training grounds, she only expected Ino, and possibly Tenten and Hinata, to be there. But, when she looked around, she noticed all of the Konoha 12, minus Naruto and Sasuke, of course, standing around a bonfire.
"Ino…?" Sakura trailed off, confusion etched into her emerald eyes. All of the shinobi in the room turned to face her at the same time. Ino and Tenten bounced over to Sakura and dragged her towards the rest of the group. "Ino, I thought it was only gonna be us," Sakura hissed at her best friend.
Ino rolled her eyes.
"Forehead, you're not the only one that needs to let go," she whispered into Sakura's ear.
Tenten nodded, "Yeah, I think we all just want to let go of our memories from two years ago."
The girls rejoined the circle.
"So, like Tenten just said to Sakura, we all kind of want to let go about… well… two years ago, correct?" Ino said, looking around the group. Everyone nodded and a faint, sad sounding 'Yosh!' was heard from Lee's direction. "Well, I think we should be able to speak our mind. That means no judging." A murmur of agreement swam around the group again. "Anyway… does anyone mind if I go first?" she asked quietly.
When no one objected, she stood up from her position on one of the logs, took a breath and started to tell everyone about how, during the Invasion of Konoha, back during the third stage of the Chunnin Exams, she and witnessed a Sound nin murder a group of civilian toddlers and how she didn't do anything to stop the man, didn't even make a peep, until after he was done when she threw a kunai that had surprisingly hit a vital point, killing him instantly.
Sakura could remember the night Ino had rushed to her house, on a rainy night, after most of the village had started to be rebuilt. It had been the night the two girls had fixed their friendship.
breathe
"Sakura? I… need to talk to you about something."
"Ino-pig? What?"
"I… I killed someone."
"Ino…"
"He had just murdered a group of toddlers. Civilian toddlers, Sakura. But… I still feel like… it was disgusting. I had his blood on my hands."
"Ino… we're shinobi. He was your first kill. Don't… shh, it'll all be fine."
breathe
When Ino finished, she tossed a kunai into the bonfire.
"That was the kunai I killed him with," she stated. "He was the first man I ever killed."
After Ino, Sakura sat and listened through everyone's painful story from what they thought would be the darkest time of their lives. She listened to Lee talking about how he had to work his way back to being able to walk, let alone be a shinobi. She heard Shikamaru talking about his failure of being a team captain and how Kiba thought he'd lose Akamaru. She watched as Tenten threw in an old bloodied bandage, a reminder of a woman she couldn't help, into the bonfire. She saw Hinata break down talking about how she thought she'd die because of a stupid family feud.
And all too soon, it was Sakura's turn. She was the last of the group to tell her story.
She stood up, and like Ino and most of the other teens, she took a deep breath and started to tell her story about a girl who was in love with a boy. She told them about how, in the second stage of the Chunnin Exams, she had fallen in love with Sasuke. Sakura told them how, not too long after, Sasuke left her, on a bench, no matter how hard she pleaded with him to stay.
"All you do is hurt me, Sasuke-kun," she whispered to herself, forgetting about the rest of the Konoha 12. "I've clung to you through all these years and without you it feels like I can't breathe. But, it's time to go our own ways. Or, at least, for me to stop wanting something I can never have. So, Sasuke-kun? I'm gonna let you go now." She threw the tiny picture into the fire and turned on her heel.
And with that, she walked away as the tiny picture of Sakura and Sasuke smiling at each other when they were children disappeared into the fire, lost forever.
justbreathe
"Good bye… Sasuke."