I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

Chapter Three: Break Down

Contrary to what many people think, Konoha is a hell of a lot larger than the Anime actually gave credit for.

And that was the reason I was currently in the middle of the street, looking like a lost child in a crowd. People pushed passed me, hardly sparing me a second glance as they bustled along. Food and item stalls were on either side of the street, calling and advertising their products.

Obviously I was lost.

I had planned on going back to Sakura's house, but I had no idea where the damn thing was. I've probably been wandering around for a decent three hours now and was at a total loss. Nothing looked familiar. I already asked the banshee in my head, but she's been ignoring me since I left the academy. So basically, I was on my own with this one.

Which roughly translates to: I'm fucked.

Asking directions to the academy were one thing, but asking someone where you lived? Na-ah. I may have not read Terrorism 101, but asking something you should already know was bound to draw some suspicion.

So there I was, standing like an idiot in the middle of the market.

I could say it couldn't get any worse than this, but I seriously didn't feel like jinxing karma at the moment. My life was already total shit; I didn't need anything to make things worse.

I sighed heavily, deciding it would be best to get off the road and find something more productive. Obviously I wasn't going to find the house, so why even bother? My feet hurt, I was hungry, and it felt like a semi-truck hit me and decided to back up.

Seriously, what did I ever do to piss God/Kami/Jashin/Pein off? The worst thing I've ever done was steal some stuff from the store...that wouldn't be enough to piss them off would it?

Not expecting any sort of answer, I made my way to a nearby park to take a break. It was an average playground, with some monkey bars, slide, a few swings, and a sandbox. I settled down on a park bench, watching the children who were occupying the area.

One of the kids face planted into the sandbox and I mentally laughed my ass off. It was a nice distraction from the troublesome situation I was in. Seeing these little rugrats running around made me feel at ease.

They looked so happy, all blissfully unaware of the soon to be terror that would wreck through their beloved home.

I laid down, and looked up at the cloudy sky. I guess I did feel a little guilty about keeping everything to myself. If someone else had the power to change the outcome of things, they'd probably do everything in their power to change it. Me on the other hand, I'd be hesitant on approaching the matter. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, regardless of what world you were in.

Sure I may be able to save some lives, but what would the outcome of that be? Not having the knowledge of what was going to happen here scared me. Anything could happen.

What actions would I take and what consequences would there be? I remembered reading this one fanfiction about Naruto traveling back to his genin days to save everyone, but everything he changed came with a price.

A price I'm not sure I was willing to pay.

So the plan was still the same: Try not to draw any suspicion and become strong to support Naruto and Sasuke.

Little by little I'll slide my personality in until no one expects me. Having someone you know drastically change in attitude as well as skill was bound to cause attention, especially if it were parents or close friends.

I guess I could wear those dress things Sakura always wore. At least, until I find something more suitable and less...revealing.

The last time I've ever shown so much skin in public was when I was coming out my mother. I suppose I could grit my teeth and bare that embarrassment.

But...

Would I become an Iryo-ninja?

It would be expected of me in the plot, but medicine was never my forte. Knowing so much about the human body and learning how to manipulate chakra to heal was certainly a level of intelligence and patience I clearly didn't possess.

Fighting out on the frontlines seemed easier, but with Naruto and Sasuke being the powerhouses they were, I was sure they'd leave me in the dust. Besides, I wasn't too entirely sure if I could handle killing other people.

So what other options were there for me?

...Why did I even have to think about it now?

I'm pretty sure I had plenty enough time to figure out a definite option before the cannon actually started, so there was really no point in worrying.

Crap.

I had forgotten to ask Iruka about the final exams!

I closed my eyes and yawned, exhaustion suddenly taking its toll. No point in worrying about that now. The only definite problem right now was finding my way back to the house. And seeing how Sakura wasn't going to help me, I saw no problem in sleeping on the bench for the night.

I could handle her parents' bitching later, right now the only thing I wanted to do was sleep.

And I did just that.

I wasn't sure how long I had been sleeping, but the drizzling of rain woke me. I sat up stiffly, finding myself completely drenched.

'Now what did I do?' I wondered glumly, standing up to stretch my aching muscles. Bangs clung to my face as I glanced around for some sort of shelter. It was dark now, and the only light were the street lights on the dirt round.

I shivered as a sudden chill shot up my spine. Not finding any sort of immediate roofing, I plopped back down on the bench. No point in searching really.

An angry growl erupted from my stomach, causing my shoulders to sag and a depressed sigh from my mouth.

'Why did this happen to me of all people?' I wondered, a big ball of sorrow weighing heavily on my chest. Maybe it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

I laughed bitterly. Oh yeah, being dead is totally the wrong place to be when getting sucked into an anime. I pulled my knees to my chest, and stared at the dark and empty playground.

Why couldn't I have just stayed dead?

Would've made everyone's lives a whole lot easier.

I sniffed, wrapping my arms around my bent legs. Suddenly the events of today crashed over me and I exhaled a shaky breath. Why did this even happen to me? I didn't even obsess over Naruto. I read and watch the anime, but I didn't go out of my way to stalk them on Wikipedia. So why me…?

I wasn't anyone important, I didn't have some special ability, hell, I wasn't even smart! My eyes started to blur, and a sob ripped through my lips, releasing a dam of tears.

Large salty tears rolled down my cheeks as hunger, exhaustion, frustration, shock, and finally fear took their toll.

"Why me...?" I whispered, breaking off into another chest wracking sob. The sound of my crying was drowned by the pouring rain. Like many situations like this, I expected no one to appear and comfort me. I had learned from an early age that crying didn't help any situation you were in. No one was going to come and wipe my tears and problems away; no one was going to help. I knew this, but I couldn't help myself.

'...Are you alright...?'

I wanted to snort. So now she wants to start caring. "Oh yeah, I'm p-perfectly fine right now..." I muttered sarcastically, closing my eyes. "Just having a break down, just go about ignoring me again."

There was a long, almost annoyed sigh on her end. 'I'm trying to help.'

"Yeeeaah, because you've been sooo h-helpful today." I said shakily, as another fresh batch of tears rolled down my face. "I didn't exactly a-ask for this ya know."

There was no response. Was she at a loss for words, or had she grown tired of me and went back to ignoring?

I opened my eyes again, and sniffled. I really did hate crying. It made me feel weak, hopeless, and above all else, it made me feel so pathetic. Like some little kid who scraped their knee. How could all those other people stand being in my position?

Oh yeah, because they were made up.

'Stand up.'

I made an 'hmph' noise. "Let me drown myself in sorrow." I muttered, almost childishly. She groaned, making a slapping noise, as if facepalming. 'I'll give you directions back to my house. Just...stop crying alright?'

I couldn't help but blink. "Seriously?"

She snorted. 'Well duh! Kaa-san is probably raising hell right now! I've never stayed out this late before! She's most likely got half the shinobi force looking for me right now. The sooner you get back, the better.'

Hmm...so crying actually got me somewhere.

Well that was new.

Wiping my eyes, I rose to my feet and looked around. "So where to?"

'Just go down the street toward the grocery store, take a right and keep going. It should be the third house on the left.'

I nearly screamed in frustration. "I was THAT FREAKIN' CLOSE?!" Suddenly the urge to rip my hair out over came me.

She snickered. 'Oh the irony ne?'

"Oh just shut up pinkie..." Which led to even more snickering.

I gave my cheeks a couple of smacks, before breaking off into a fast sprint. Man it was cold out here. Hopefully the run will warm me up a bit.

Despite having a breakdown, I felt oddly giddy. I was going to take a long hot bath, eat a shit ton of food, and sleep in a soft warm bed...

Then I frowned, coming to a direct halt.

'Oh geez, what now?'

"What on earth am I going to tell your parents?"

'I don't know. Tell them you were training and passed out from exhaustion or something. It sure looks like it.'

Looking down, I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

'You have scratches and bruises all over you from your fight with that moron-Naruto.' She explained impatiently. 'Don't tell me you've already forgotten?'

"I liked it better when you shut up." I muttered crossly, jogging down the row of houses. I saw the supposed house and walked up to it. Well, here went nothing.

Maybe they were out searching for me or something.

I opened the door and silently slipped in.

'That would be nice...'

"Sakura Haruno!" I voice behind me snapped, causing me to freeze.

Que the cliché mother wearing her robe and 'where the hell have you been' pose. I closed the door behind me, and offered a sheepish smile.

'That won't work you know.'

'Shut it pinkie.'

"And just where have you been?!" She demanded, as her husband appeared behind her. He looked a little worse for wear.

"I sorta passed out while training..." Was my excuse.

She raised an incredulous eyebrow, looking me up and down. "Oh really?" As to where amusement and relief shown in Sakura's father's eyes. "Mah, false alarm Mebuki." He said, waving a hand in dismissal. "No boyfriends yet."

Mebuki on the other hand, didn't look convinced. "Then why does it look like she's been crying Kizashi?"

Shit.

Well I was plainly fucked. Kizashi knitted his eyebrows, before taking a closer look at me. Realization flashed through his eyes.

Double shit.

Damn you woman and your night vision eyes!

"Are you okay Sakura? Did something happen?"

Did something happen?

Did something happen...Anne?

I hate those words.

Did something happen? It made things seem so generally worse than it needed to be. Like they were immediately expecting you to poor you heart and soul out.

"No." I said flatly, crossing my arms defensively. "I was training and passed out from exhaustion. Is working out a crime now?"

"It is if you're out until two o'clock!" Mebuki snapped, taking the bait without a moment of hesitation.

"Well sorry I passed out!"

"Apology not accepted!" She shot back, bristling.

"You're Mom has a point Sakura," Kizashi said softly. "It isn't exactly safe to be sleeping in the middle of know where."

'Oh yeah, take HER side!' Sakura almost yelled.

"Oh yeah, take HER side!" I repeated, watching as he frowned.

"I'm on no one's side."

'Pft, could've fooled me!' She scowled, and I followed her example, throwing him a scowl. He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"You scared both of us Sakura. What if you had been kidnapped? Another hour and we'd be down at the Hokage tower."

I resisted the urge to groan and roll my eyes. "Just drop it already! I'm cold, hungry, and would love for you two to back off my case." Not waiting for a response, I brushed past them and headed into the kitchen.

I grabbed the bread from off the counter, opened the fridge and pulled out some strawberry jam, and grabbed a butter knife from in the sink.

Then went to make myself something to eat.

While doing so, both mother and dearest father hovered over me. Mother was squawked her head off about what I was really doing while dearest father said nothing, just giving me weird stares.

'Jesus, are they always like this?' I asked in silent irritation, slapping down another glob of jam on the bread.

'Not really, this is just as annoying as they get. Well, not Kaa-san, she's always bugging me about something. But Tou-san is being unusually serious tonight.'

"Sakura."

'Well I don't look like I've been kidnapped do I?'

'I don't think so. I think it's the swollen eyes that screwed the plan up.'

"Sakura!"

'Man, no offense, but your parents are total drags.'

'You sound like Shikamaru.'

"SAKURA!" A hand grabbed my shoulder, forcing me to look up at Mebuki. She looked down right furious.

What about I had no clue.

I was having a conversation with her daughter, so I didn't know what she had been saying for the last five minutes. Haha...

"What?"

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!"

I stared impatiently at her. "Well...?" I prompt, shoving one of the sandwiches in my mouth. 'Is there some type of jutsu that could like...freeze them or something?'

'Pfffft, I wish.'

Her eyes softened and her body went slack. Now instead of being angry, she looked actually concerned. I wondered in faint amusement if she were bi-polar like Sakura.

"If anything happened Sakura, you know we're always here right?" She asked softly. "If anything were to happen to you..."

I exhaled slowly, my impatience quickly dissolving. They were only worried parents, nothing more nothing less. They weren't suspicious of me; they just wanted to know whether their daughter was alright.

…But that didn't mean I had to be nice to them.

"I'm fine, honestly." I scoffed, putting the jam away. "Can I go now?" I asked, picking up the remaining sandwiches.

They both exchanged glances, but nodded. Taking my leave up the stairs, I shoved another sandwich in my mouth.

'Well that royally sucked.' Here I had been expecting a screaming match that resulted in my storming upstairs. The entire thing sucked, but at least it won't come back and bit me in the ass later. As long as they didn't suspect me for any other reasons than sneaking out with a boy, I should be fine.

I entered the room, and locked the door behind me. Now that that was out of the way, all I had to do was take a hot shower and curl up in bed for the night.

Grabbing the discarded pajamas from earlier this morning –Did I mention they were also red? - And some underwear, I made my way to the bathroom.

'So are you color blind or just have an obsession with red?' I asked silently, starting up the shower. Luckily it was a western style bathroom, so everything didn't seem too different. 'Seriously, it's almost as bad as Naruto's fixation with orange!'

'I look in good in red thank you.' Sakura answered dryly, an image of her crossing her arms coming to mind. 'Not many can pull that off.'

I shook my head, peeling off the wet clothes that seemed to stubbornly cling to my body. "If you could where any other color, what would it be?"

'Pink.'

I blanched. "Pink? Are you serious? What about green or black?" I finally managed to wrestle my shirt off, and started working on the pants.

'Black? Why in Kami's name would I want to wear that?'

"Because it's better than pink." I grumbled, kicking the pants off. Stepping into the shower, I was immediately assaulted by small pressurized drops of water. I sighed happily, and closed my eyes.

'Pink is so much better than black. It's bright, lovely, not to mention-'

"Makes you stick out like a sore thumb." I said, closing my eyes. "I thought ninja were supposed to blend in with crowds and stuff, not make them the center of attention."

'Well my hair is pretty much an eye catcher, what's the point in wearing ugly colors if your hair is going to ruin it any ways?' Sakura scoffed, not seeing what I was trying to explain.

"Oh I give up. No matter what happens, I'm not going to wear those dresses-"

'Qipuo.'She cut in sharply, as I went on.

"-just to look fashionable. The moment I come across an outfit I like, I'm getting it, regardless of your opinion."

She huffed, but didn't reply. By this point, I had already washed my hair, and was working on my body. I scrubbed hard, and was starting on the lower section when something caught my eye.

Was…was that a birthmark?

"You have a really cute mark on your butt." I mused, inspecting the strawberry shaped spot. Sakura spluttered, probably turning red in embarrassment.

'It is not c-cute!' She snapped. 'And st-stop staring at it!'

"Alright alright." I said, trying hard not to laugh. I turned the water off, before wrapping myself in a towel and stepping out. A wave of cool air brushed passed me, causing me to shiver slightly. Quickly drying off, I changed into the pajamas and went back into the bedroom.

"I bet you Naruto will think it's cute." I added slyly.

'SHUT UP!'

I covered my mouth to muffle the laughter threatening to burst out. After I turned the lights off, I crawled into bed and made a cocoon using the blankets. Snuggling against the pillow, I exhaled softly. "Good night Sakura." I murmured drowsily, before succumbing to sleep.

Now you're probably thinking that the relationship between Sakura and I improved to the point where she'd helped me out and stuff but…

"So where is the academy again?"

"Find it yourself! You found it once, you can find it again!"

"OH COME ON!"

It hasn't.

Author's Note:

THIS CHAPTER WAS HASTILY MADE.

I planned on updating sooner, but with missing a week of school due to weather and not having internet at my house…well…yeah.

Any who, my OC is going to have a hard time getting Sakura to help . The more I write, the more I see just how different they are. Sakura likes pink and red as to where my character prefers green and black. Sakura is a social butterfly while my character is a hermit and so on and so forth.

~Cheerio-chan