Chapter Three: Nightmare

She stretched out in her chair, she hated school. It was always boring no matter what she did.

It didn't help that her teacher had the amazing ability to drone on and on and on. Or maybe it was her and the defect in her brain that made her sleep through all her classes.

Whatever the reason, when her teacher started speaking her eyes would close and the next thing she knew someone was tapping her shoulder, telling her that class had ended.

Today was different though. She felt uneasy and restless.

Her best friend wasn't in class today. It wasn't strange for her to skip class, but something seemed off.

She picked up her phone and tried the number again, trying to stay still. There was no answer.

Sakura put her phone down and sighed. "Come on just call me." Something she found herself repeating over and over in her head.

Tenten had been acting strange for the past week. She was usually cheerful and upbeat, always ready for what may come next, but recently she had been distracted, often staring at nothing in particular.

Sakura had thought she was just going through a common round of depression, not really knowing how to deal with that, Sakura let her be as best she could.

It was the same now; once again Sakura didn't know what to do. "What can I do?" She asked herself. Having no answer she sat there in that tiring classroom waiting for either the bell or phone to ring.

She laid her head on the desk and closed her eyes when she felt a chill run down her back. "What is this?" Her mind flashed to Tenten. "Something's wrong." She thought as she quickly rose to her feet.

Her head turned to the open window. She was on the third story, but that didn't stop her in the least.

She ran and jumped out the window, hitting the ground harder than she had expected. Pain shot through her leg as she stood. "Not a good idea jumping out the third story window." She noted aloud.

She did her best to ignore the pain as she took off running.

By the time she arrived, she was breathing hard and she noticed that her ankle was beginning to swell. She shrugged as she made for the house in front of her. Knocking until someone came to the door. It was Tenten's mother.

"Sakura? What are you doing here?" The older woman asked.

"Sorry to disturb…" Sakura bowed, "Is Tenten home?"

The older woman wore a surprised look and asked in a worried tone, "She's not at school?"

Sakura sighed trying to ignore the feeling of unease creeping in, she let her mind wander and finally a thought came to her.

Without giving the woman an answer Sakura bowed and quickly took off again, leaving the confused mother at the doorstep. "She's at the bridge!" Sakura thought as she pushed forward, feeling like an idiot for having not thought about it sooner.

She brushed past Tenten's brother but had no time to stop, so she gave a quick apology and continued on.

The city had originally started out a small group of people who built a town on a small island in the middle of a wide lake, but as time went on more people came and the town got bigger.

Eventually they had to start building across the lake. So they built a large bridge for easy passage. It actually took them longer to build the bridge than it took them to build the other part of the city, but when it was done the bridge proved to be more than necessary.

Ever since they were young Sakura and Tenten had come and played on the bridge. They knew just the right time of day where the bridge would become empty. When they needed a place to think they would go there to look down at the water and up at the sky.

When she arrived at the bridge Sakura was on the verge of collapsing, her breath came out in short rasps and her vision was beginning to blur. The pain in her leg was unlike anything she had ever felt.

However, her relief drowned out all other feeling. There was Tenten, sitting on the railing of the bridge, looking down at the water.

Sakura smiled, she felt like a fool for panicking so quickly. "I should have known she would be here." She whispered to herself. "Yet something still feels wrong."

Tenten turned, noticing Sakura. She wore a look of shock, which was quickly replaced by a look of grief.

"I had hoped you wouldn't come." Tenten smiled bitterly.

Sakura's vision was blurring, the pain from her leg becoming more and more extreme. She tried her best to keep from passing out.

"Of coarse I'd come, I was worried."

"Yes, I should have expected as much."

Something was off. "Tenten she's acting strange." She thought.

"I wasn't able to do it after all."

"Do what?" Sakura asked.

Tenten shook her head. "Doesn't matter anymore."

With those words Tenten smiled and let go of the bridge. Closing her eyes as she fell back.

Her eyes shot open. She was sweating and tears wear streaming down her face, she slowly sat up and wiped them away. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried, but these memories always brought back pain.

She turned and looked at the figure on the bed, he was still asleep. She grabbed her phone, (which she always kept close out of habit) and looked at the time 4:20 A.M.

She sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to go back to sleep.

She quietly got up and headed for the bathroom, a hot shower would clear her mind. She turned the water on, took her clothes off and got in. The hot water felt good on her skin. She put her head against the wall and let her mind go blank.

Twenty minutes later, she stepped out wrapping a towel around her. she opened the bathroom door and walked over to her bag of clothes, grabbing the first item she saw. After she had gotten dressed she went to the fridge peaking inside, nothing. He had eaten all of her food.

"He eats like he's been starving." She said closing the fridge.

"Guess I'm going to the store." She grabbed her jacket and went for the door giving one more glance at the figure on the bed before heading out.

Thirty minutes later she arrived at the convenience store. She was glad that this town had a twenty-four hour convenience store.

She walked in looking around. To her surprise there were several people inside. "Guess I'm not the only morning person." She thought.

There was a young couple close to the back looking at different brands of beer, an elderly man buying lottery tickets, a cute young man looking through some magazines and the sleep deprived clerk at the counter.

Sakura walked in and headed straight for the chips grabbing several bags, and then she went and grabbed two glass bottle coffees. Not the least bit healthy, but it was good enough until the real store opened.

She walked up to the counter and patiently waited behind the old man, who was still looking over different tickets.

An older man walked through the doors looking slightly nervous and rather tired. Sakura watched him look around; he seemed to relax a little after scoping over everyone, his eyes meeting with Sakura's for only a second.

She was about to say something to him when she saw him reach into his coat, pulling out a pistol.

The young couple, old man and clerk all screamed when the man shot into the ceiling, getting everyone's attention. Sakura sighed not believing her luck.

"Okay chapter three done. I feel with this story there are parts that are a little choppy, please forgive me for that. It is my first story, so any advice is welcome."