Hey, how's ya'll doing? My name's Jude and this is my first fan fic. It's a Naruto one and I'd give the details but I think you'd like to read it first! I'm hoping to make more chapters for this one; we'll see! Ciao, and enjoy!

Broken hearts will mend

"I could never love you."

The words kept echoing in her ears.

"I could never love you."

Yes, the sting on her face couldn't compare to the sting on her heart…

Sweat ran down her brow, though it snowed all around. Tears ran down her face as Sakura kept running blindly into the woods surrounding the village. Her hands covered her now red eyes and tear stained cheeks. A huge red hand print marked her face.

Forward she ran, until she caught her ankle on a tree root. "Oof!" she gasped, hitting the ground, her wind knocked out of her. Her arms clamped round her gut. A deep sob welled in her chest; she didn't want to get up again. She didn't want to go back to the village. She didn't want to go back to the person who had betrayed her, betrayed her emotions, who had lied to her. She just wanted to lay here in the snow, the first winter snow, and freeze. The cold of the air was warm compared to those awful words…

("Stop kidding yourself!)

The words kept on returning…

(I never loved you, Sakura.)

Echoing…

(I could never love you.)

"Sasuke…" she sniffed. "Why?" Warm tears formed and fell, melting the fresh snow beneath her. She rolled to her side and pulled herself back up. Staggering, she leaned against a tree. This was all futile. Reality hit her again as she remembered…

(I could never love you.)

"Sasuke," she repeated, and kept repeating as she sagged back down to the ground. The memory took everything out of her. His cruel words…and then… a wave of sobs emerged from her as she hugged herself, each one bearing more bitter tears with it. And that singular name…

"Sasuke…Sasuke…Sasuke …I thought you loved me…stupid…stupid me… how could I believe that he cared?" Her side began to ache from the sobbing. Her heart had broken within her…

"Sakura…"

A soft voice came from behind. Sakura turned, unable to hide her now red eyes from anyone. Kakashi stood a distance away. In his hands he held a blanket.

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?" Sakura furiously rubbed her face to conceal her tearstains, but it was useless. Her red eyes gave her away.

"Sakura, are you okay?"

"Oh, yes, I-I…I'm fine, sensei." Sakura tried to pull herself to her feet, but her legs were too wobbly for such a task. She struggled, but ultimately collapsed. Kakashi lunged forward and grabbed her before she hit the ground.

Sakura fell into Kakashi's chest. She could no longer contain herself. A floodgate of heartbreak opened up right on Kakashi's vest. Kakashi knelt down and wrapped the blanket around Sakura. His arms reached around her and pulled her in close to him. Her body heaved underneath the blanket; bitter heart wrenching sobs eked out from her.

"I heard what happened."

"Huh?" Sakura sniffed. "What do you mean?"

"I heard…Sasuke was cruel…"

"Who told you? Who?"

"Word gets round, it's not important…"

"Who told you?" she shrieked, tears forming.

"…Naruto heard …"

"Naruto…figures…" Sakura became weepy again. "Stupid…"

"Naruto was just concerned…"

"Not him! Me…" Sakura's voice trailed off. Her hand's rested on Kakashi's strong shoulders and she sighed deeply.

"Stupid? Why?

"I should've…I should've been more perceptive...I shouldn't have angered him, even when I had the feeling…the feeling that he didn't love me."

"Sakura, what happened exactly?" Kakashi's voice was tender and calm. She wasn't sure why, but it gave her a warm sensation inside and she felt safe there. It confused her, but she so wanted to get it off her chest.

"I went to Sasuke. I wanted…tell him…" Sakura hesitated. "..I thought that I loved him. I went to tell him so. I wanted to be his. He seemed…he seemed to feel the same way. So I just told him. He looked at me, and told me, without a hint of feeling in his voice, that he didn't love me, that he never loved me. I tried to ask him why he led me on, I got angry, and then…" She stopped.

"Then what?" Kakashi's voice got more intense.

Sakura started to cry again. "He…he hit me! He slapped and told me that he "could never love me". He slapped me…he slapped me…" Sakura burst in to tears again and buried her head into Kakashi's chest. Her fists were balled and pounding on Kakashi's shoulders.

Kakashi pulled her close to him and told her,"Shhh, it's all right, don't cry. It's all right, don't worry. Everything's fine now. Sasuke isn't here, just me."

The whole woods around was quiet. The flurry of snow continued to fall as they remained, on their knees, Sakura locked in his arms. By now his vest was soaked with her tears. But Kakashi kept holding her, comforting her. He rubbed her back as she sobbed, shushing her and whispering in her ear.

Sakura began to get a strange feeling which Kakashi had not intended. She felt as if Sasuke had never mattered. Her heart started to pound until she felt like her chest would blow out of her chest. She could feel her chest tightening, Kakashi's slow steady breathing, and the rhythm of their alternating heartbeats. What was this feeling? Could she be…? 'Mmm,' she thought, 'His hands on my back feels so good…what am I thinking? He's Kakashi-sensei…that would be…wrong…' She closed her eyes and sighed.

Kakashi looked down on her. Sakura seemed to be a lot calmer. Almost relaxed. She sighed, her breathing deepening. "How are you feeling now, Sakura?"

"Hmm, better, sensei. Thanks a lot…Kakashi…sensei…" Sakura dropped off.

Kakashi smiled. Wrapping her in the blanket, he hoisted her into his arms and carried her back to the village…

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Sakura roused from a groggy sleep to see herself in her room, alone. She pulled the blanket she was covered in up around her and almost started to cry again. But she suddenly recognized the blanket. It was the one that Kakashi had brought to her when she was in the woods. When she had been sad and he had comforted her. And it was there in his arms, that something had been sparked, but she wasn't sure. It was curious, this new feeling towards Kakashi-sensei. She wanted to see him again, and she couldn't wait until that moment came.

Sakura lay back down and drifted off again…"Could I be in love with…" The last thing to pass through her mind before she slipped off into…

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"Just be kinder to Sakura." Kakashi said.

"I'm not sure what came over me…" Sasuke replied

"It's your lack of restraint! Control yourself!"

"Why are suddenly so defensive of Sakura?"

Kakashi said nothing.

"Well?"

"Just leave her alone…"

"I'll try…"

"Not good enough. Do it."

And then Kakashi went off into the night…

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Authors Note and Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own the rights to Naruto, obviously. That's VIZ's territory. Yes, Sasuke is a rat bastard in this and Sasuke fan girls will want me dead. But you know, he really is a cold bastard…

Well, I might make some sequels to this chapter. It depends the mood I'm in.

Till next time,

Jude