XxXxXxXx
Beyond Emerald Eyes
XxXxXxXx
Legend
Italic (character thoughts or emphasizing on a word)
Bold Italic (Memories/flashbacks)
XxXxXxXx
Character death!!!
XxXxXxXx
Quickly, she tucked the scroll into her holster and hurried over to the group of Sand ninja.
"What happened?" Sakura asked in pure shock...
" Mission..." Kankuro barely managed to choke out without losing his balance...
Sakura looked at who Temari was carrying and her eyes went wide once again...
Gaara!?!
Even though she had never really grown to like the youngest sand sibling, Sakura found a place in her heart that was begging with her to help him... The kunoichi instructed Temari to lie Gaara down on his stomach on the sandy ground, while she griped the kunai sticking out of his back and pulled it out in one fluid motion; blood staining her clothes...
Sakura began to gather chakra to her hands as she pumped all of the energy from the palms of her hands into the injured sand sibling...
Temari and Kankuro both knew that Sakura and Gaara weren't on good terms with each other as of late; even after she had saved Gaara's life when Chiyo killed him... There was something about one another that they both disliked about each other...
Either I'm too annoying...
Or, he's too cold...
"Why?" Temari finally asked in a hush.
Sakura came up with only one answer...
"Because it's my duty..."
XxXxXxXx
Chapter II: Ai
XxXxXxXx
Emerald eyes are closed, breathing is ragged as Haruno Sakura uses up a fraction more of her chakra; motivated to help Sabaku no Gaara... Her brows are furrowed and her forehead is creased with lines as she analyzes the situation at hand...
Blood...
Blood is covering her hands, staining her clothes and face as the young woman takes the white bandages that Temari just handed to her... She nods to the blonde haired kunoichi and begins to wrap up Gaara's wounds...
The deep wound in his back caused by that of a kunai is persisting to continue to bleed, even as Sakura tries to wrap the bandage around; the white linen is soon after basking in his rusty blood...
Throwing the soiled bandage to the dirt ground, Sakura focuses her chakra to the palm of her hands and presses lightly down on Gaara's kunai wound; it heals almost immediately, the destroyed flesh slowly being put back together; no scar in sight...
Sakura watches as Temari kneels beside her on one knee and gives the young woman a wry smile; though Sakura isn't in the mood for smiling, she merely nods her head and sets back to work on Sabaku no Gaara...
It's my duty...
My...
Duty...?
-
"Ino, I've failed you..."
"I've failed myself!"
"No... I'm proud..."
-
She shakes her head and watches as the figure of Gaara begins to tremble and then his green eyes open to look at the sandy ground... He feels so light headed at the moment that he closes his eyes and wills himself to fall asleep again...
Sleep...
Fall asleep...
-
"A wounded heart is hard to heal..."
"Love, Gaara... It's love..."
"What... is love?"
"It hurts so much!"
"Make it stop!"
"Stop!"
-
Sakura feels his body go limp, but knows that he has just passed out... Temari places a hand on Sakura's tense shoulder and can feel the muscles tighten at the slight touch; pulling away the blonde haired woman helps Sakura to her feet...
Kankuro is fast to scoop his younger brother up and stands next to Temari who is busy thanking Sakura for her help...
"But... what about you guys?" She asks in confusion.
"I can heal-"
Temari silences her...
"No, Sakura... Preserve your chakra, we'll be fine..."
The said woman nods her head, understanding the friendly woman as she bids the two a goodbye and heads towards the gates of Sunagakure...
Although she should feel good that she saved Gaara's life, something... a memory was keeping her from feeling that emotion any longer... Her heart sinks as she walks slowly towards Konohagakure, to her home town...
-
"Sasuke, stop... don't go!"
"You really are annoying, Sakura..."
"I'll scream! Everyone will hear!"
"I love you so much..."
"Take me with you..."
"Sakura, thank you..."
-
That was so long ago, the young girl doesn't want to keep grieving over those memories... but they persist to plague her every thought... every dream...
She doesn't even know what peace is anymore; hasn't felt it in such a long time... Her thoughts are blank as she stops from passing the Yamanaka Flower Shop... Her head is bowed suddenly as she holds back tears that are threatening to fall...
-
"Where are you going?"
Her feminine voice reaches Sakura's ears; the said woman turns her head to the side and sees none other than Yamanaka Ino, blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, eye brows raised in suspicion, lips slightly parted...
Her azure eyes catch sight of the backpack slung over Sakura's small shoulder; instantly she knows what the pink haired woman is going to go through with and she walks towards her...
"Sakura, why are you doing this?"
"I want him back!" She screams, making Ino back up for a second...
Her hand is placed on Sakura's shoulder as the blonde haired woman gives her best friend a sympathetic look before speaking...
"I know how you must feel, Sakura but-"
"I love him!"
"I still love him!"
Her eyes are closed as the blonde haired woman processes every word that comes out of Sakura's mouth...
"Then... let me come with you..."
This makes Sakura's eyes widen as she stares at Yamanaka Ino in disbelief... Smirking at the stunned woman, Ino flashes Sakura a smirk before pulling her friend into a quick hug while patting her back...
"It's okay..."
"I'm right here; nothing is going to happen..."
-
It was as if Sakura was watching everything that did happen replay before her eyes at the moment...
The screams...
The blood...
The regret...
I know you're not worth her life...
-
"Ino, where are you!"
The smoke and falling debris do not cease; a few pieces of wood even hitting Sakura and causing her to stumble; ash causing her to go blind for a few seconds, eyes continuing to burn and sting...
She can hear muffled cries somewhere in the area, but cannot detect where it is coming from; the crackling of the flames that burn intensely around her are making it hard to tell where she is...
Sakura's clothing is ripped up, cuts decorating her body, black ash staining her skin... Her right leg is near close to immobile as she had just recently removed a large piece of debris from her leg...
Her vision is beginning to blur as she falls to the ground and takes in bountiful amounts of oxygen, filling her lungs...
"Ino..." She whispers out, crawling everywhere in search of the blonde haired woman...
That crying does not halt and helps in the search for Ino; she ends up in a fairly destroyed area of the forest they were traveling in... Emerald eyes are wide as Sakura comes upon a large tree crushing the small body of Yamanaka Ino...
Blood trailing from her mouth and rolling down her chin... The young woman crawls as quickly as she can to her friend in need...
Ino outstretches her arm and grasps Sakura's hand, their fingers interlock, Sakura's hands are so warm compared to that of Ino's... She coughs multiple times before attempting to remove the tree but sadly cannot...
Sakura holds back tears as she grips the bark of the heavy tree and tries with all her strength to haul the large tree of off Ino's form...
No luck, the tree doesn't budge a single inch...
"Ino, why!?!"
"Why did you get in the way?"
"It should be me in your place!"
Sakura can tell that Ino feels discomfort with each and every breath that she takes in just to stay alive for a while longer... And that was all it took before Sakura started to break down and rest her head upon the bark of the mighty tree...
Tears staining her pale face, mixing with her cuts and making them sting all the more... Though she doesn't care; the pain in her heart that she is feeling at the moment is enough to kill her...
Glancing into Ino's dull azure eyes, Sakura gently touches her clammy cheek as she whispers out a few words...
"I've failed you..."
"I've failed myself..."
"No..." Ino rasps, coughing as she continues...
"You are not a failure, Sakura..."
"Never think that way about yourself again..."
Even though she is feeling immense pain, Ino smiles at the pink haired woman who tries with all her might to the same but cannot... Her lips are curved in a frown as she tries again to lift the tree from Ino...
Nothing...
"Sakura..." Ino says in a hush...
"It's too late for me..."
She doesn't shed a single tear even as she gives out a blood curdling cry and suddenly her body goes limp under the tree, her head cocking to the side, blonde hair cascading over her shoulder; stained in blood...
"Ino, get up!"
"Please..."
-
She always put herself down for the death of her best friend Ino... Always saying that it was her fault for wanting to get Sasuke back that Ino ended up dieing... She even locked herself up in her room for many days, not bothering to do anything but sleep...
No one hated are resented her for the death of Ino... Though Sakura despised herself for her stupid decisions leading up to Yamanaka Ino's untimely death... It happened too quickly for Sakura to properly think anything out; Ino saw the ninja coming towards Sakura and instead used her body to deflect the attack, sending her soaring into trees...
"You're not a failure, Sakura..."
"Sakura..."
"Sakura..."
"Ino..."
"Ino!"
Sai can see a figure in the distance, looking a lot like his girlfriend, Sakura... The pink hair is a dead giveaway and he begins to sprint towards the young woman who is walking slowly through the Konoha gates...
The Uchiha look-alike stops in his tracks as his eyes travel all over her bloody body, immediately he suspects the worse and runs to her side, pulling her into a tight embrace...
"Sai-kun..." She whispers against his shirt.
"What happened?" He asks quickly...
Pulling away from Sai, Sakura looks at her blood stained clothes and smiles sheepishly as she scratches the back of her head...
"I healed Gaara, he was hurt..."
He nods his head, relief soon after washing over him as he sighs in contentment and walks Sakura to the hokage tower where Tsunade would be awaiting her arrival...
-
"I was sent to assassinate you, Gaara..."
"By the kazekage, your father..."
"My father!?!"
"Father..."
-
Sabaku no Gaara jolts awake as he looks around the empty room he is in... A white and unknown room to him; like one of the hospital rooms...
It feels like his kanji symbol is burning, just like when he had first received it... After his uncle tried to kill him, telling him that he had never loved him because he was the cause of his sister's death...
Touching the symbol, Gaara whispered out a few words...
"Ai..."
XxXxXxXx
Author's Note
Sorry for not updating sooner, I was sick... (cough cough) I hope you all enjoyed that chapter and I will try to have the next chapter up as soon as possible:P
Read and Review
Hugs 'n' kisses
Sasuke-Sakura-14
XxXxXxXx
Sorry for any spelling mistakes!!!
XxXxXxXx
