A/N Reviewers: PenanceGirl, Cindy Medeiros (Thank you for taking the time to give feedback to this story!)

Story Alerters: Yuuki-Hime 2097, soulreaperforever, violentblossom, NZ-Suzane, PurpleLeopard, ObjectedPrincess

Seriously, I smile every time I get one of these emails. Thank you all so much. :)

Disclaimer: The quote below is mine, Naruto is not.

You promise the things that are impossible

And I laugh at you.

You care for me, comfort me,

And I scream at you.

But when you say that you're my friend

I will not speak with words

But instead with my heart.

Sakura

Weeks pass by, and soon October was almost ending.

Naruto and Hinata walked with her on most days, and sometimes Kiba and Neiji joined them. Sasuke (as she found out the boy was called) avoided them, but sometimes stole glances at them, and Ino did as well. Well, Sasuke's glances were more of questioning looks, and Ino's glances more of glares. Karin kept her distance.

(Bullies aren't anything when you're surrounded by friends.)

Shikamaru hung out with that blond often, who was named Temari. Sakura asked her if she was Gaara's sister, and Temari just shook her head quickly and went away.

Cousins maybe? (Not wanted, not seen)

Gaara was mostly alone, drawing and disappearing. Naruto was sometimes there to talk to him, the blond boy doing most of the talking while Gaara just listened and nodded once in awhile.

Kiba once had asked him why he even talked to him. Naruto had glared at replied, "He doesn't have anyone else. And he listens, doesn't he?"

It was Naruto's birthday soon, right on Halloween. Hinata asked Sakura if she wanted to have a party for him, and soon they were talking about it through the boring classes and quiet hallways.

Sakura was happy, in the loosest definition.

But she dreaded the days when her father came home, usually with a woman. They stared and laughed at her, and she ran up to her room with the stars that surrounded her.

She sat out alone during the quiet evenings on the rocking chair, observing the boy that had the blood red hair that passed the house everyday, after catching sight of her.

There weren't any houses on that side of the road, nor were there any other form of structures at all. People-especially in the evenings- barely walked along the cracked pavement.

It was interesting. The red haired boy usually just stood there, looking toward the buildings and did his best to avoid eye contact with Sakura. Once, there was a blue-black haired boy with him. The boy shouted at the red haired boy, before leaving in anger.

She wished she knew what he was saying.

Ino

Broken.

Broken.

BROKEN.

She is broken like a china doll that has cracked on the floor and was thrown away.

Her life is full of screams and moans, every night. Her grades drop and drop, but she doesn't care. As long as she gets that feeling of bliss that pound in her veins every night, she doesn't care about anything. It's the only thing that keeps her together.

(The only thing that is destroying her from the inside)

She had heard Hinata talk about Naruto's birthday party with Sakura. She had stayed hidden long enough to know that the party would be very soon, at Hinata's house.

Now, her thoughts were set on revenge. It was Sakura's fault that her life was ruined, so she longed to get even.

Hinata was also a target. The heiress was doing the exact same thing as her, but was her life ruined? No. In fact, it was getting better by the day.

Revenge.

Temari too.

Maybe with her brother.

A flare of orange burst up deep inside her, and she smiled wickedly.

Let the feelings take you over, my dear.

Every last one of them.

Until they fall and wither away.

"Ino-chan!"

The sudden voice snaps her out of her daze. She sees Tenten waving her over towards her table, smiling.

(You don't deserve it, you know.)

I know.

But the blond sits with her (supposed) friend anyways, smiling and laughing. No one suspects anything.

That evening, she manages to smuggle out some flammable drugs from one of the boys she had worked on before. Her payment is another session, and she promises that. Her plan slowly fits into place in her mind.

And she laughs.

Sakura

It is raining that evening.

It was another normal day at school. Her grades weren't the best, and she practically fails at gym, but Kakashi-sensei pretends to take no notice.

Sakura walks home with Hinata, since Naruto has to go to Kiba's house for a project. Together, they take shelter under the umbrella Hinata brought, talking excitedly about the party. She feels like a bunch of fifth graders, giggling and laughing.

And that's good.

Now, she's on the porch, munching on some cookies she baked in Home Economy the other day. Money isn't a problem anymore, since she's managed to get a job at the local store, not too far away. Naruto works there too.

She is happy for the first time in two years.

The boy comes again, still on the other side of the road, his red hair darken than ever because of the rain that is now pouring down. She feels sorry for him, and almost gets up from her seat to talk to him.

Almost.

Now she feels like a stalker, since she's been watching him for almost two months now and she never told him, and she doesn't even know his name.

He stands there for the longest time, looking out into his own world, silent. Waiting for something. (A miracle.)

Sakura begins to head back in when the stars start to swirl and dance around her violently. She staggers, trying to shoo them away.

(It's not real! Fight it Haruno!)

She tries, she really does, but she can't. The stars are innocent, so she can't can't can't hurt them.

She stops batting at them, but they still swirl around. She turns, to see nothing. The boy is still there, there is a car passing by, its light reflecting on the puddles in the water…

She freezes. She closes her eyes and opens them again, just to confirm that what she is staring at is real.

The puddle closest to the boy is red.

Her eyes dart around, absorbing even more details. The ground beneath the boy is reddish black, and it is spreading around, making a sort of crimson pattern beneath him. There is something shiny in the boy's hand and he is staggering slipping falling-

Her breathing gets faster and faster, and she throws down the cookie in her hand and runs across the street. There is a car heading straight towards her, honking its horn violently. She ignores it, and picks up speed in her legs.

(RUNRUNRUN!)

The car skids on the water and swirls around before coming to a halt at the edge of the road, less than a foot from the sidewalk. The owner gets out, screaming.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? You bitch, I could've fucking died!"

He keeps on screaming, his face rapidly turning purple. But Sakura ignores him (he's just like your father, isn't he?) and runs to the boy. Now all the cement around him is turning varying shades of red, and his blood red hair is covering his face. His head is turned towards the ground.

The pink haired girl pales when she sees a knife in one hand. It is crossing over on the other arm. Gently, she pushes it away.

There is a deep scratch on his wrist.

She looks around the street for help (even the car owner has gone) and finds none. Carefully, she tugs him onto her shoulder. In a jerking movement, the boy pushes her away, even though he is barely conscious.

"G..Go..."

His arms are wrapped around something, she realizes. She attempts to approach him once more, but his reaction is the same. And he is close to losing consciousness.

She flips him around so his head is facing the sky. She tugs an item from his now fragile grip.

It is a giant gourd.

Oh no no no no

He's dying and fading and going

And no help no help

And what do I do, there's no phone or anything

And I can't get my mind straight

I push his hair away from his pale face

There's the kanji 'Ai' beneath on his forehead

And dark circles around his eyes

Gaara?

I run, run, run

Even when I run inside the house

I keep an eye on him

The stars swirling and

I can't keep focus

I pick up the school directory

I got a few days ago

And call Temari.

(Do you even know if she can help?)

"Hello? Who is this?"

Her soft voice comes from the other end

I'm running toward Gaara again

Who's getting paler and paler

"Your brother- He's hurt!"

There's a silence, and the sound of her hanging up.

No hope

NO HOPE

I grab the piece of cloth I brought outside

And wrap it around his wrist

With trembling fingers

And he jerks away

But I can't just leave him

(Isolated. Alone.)

I can still hear him shout

'Go away'

Is this the boy I've seen in school?

He looks so so so fragile

When he looked so scary

Now I think nobody cares

I remember I saw someone do this on a movie once

What did they call it?

So long ago…

There's a black limo coming towards us

And for a moment I think

That it's his time

And he's going (going gone)

But I realize it's Temari

Who parks the car

And violently takes Gaara

(So pale…)

And jerks him away

And shoves him violently into the black limo

But I know she didn't mean it like that

Since I see her hands shaking

And her lips trembling

And she tells me,

"Mention this to no one. Forget about him. Stay away."

(So many times, people have said that)

And she leaves

But I can't help think about the boy

Who tried to commit

Suicide

And he looked so pale.

The blood still stains the ground

And is floating away into the grass

Becoming a healing thing

And then I wonder

How did she knows

Who I was

Or where I even lived?

The next day,

I look for Gaara during class

Remember him looking

So pale

And I have to admit

I'm a bit scared

Of how he tried

To kill himself

And I try to force the image out of my mind

But it won't. Get. Out.

Math is with Anko-sensei

But I'm hardly paying attention to Lee's declares of youth

Neiji's scoffs

Shikamaru's groans

Or Hinata's blushes

And Anko-sensei

Stares at me

And raises her voice

But I'm still not listening

To anything

(Worried about someone, Sakura?)

And I dash out the door as soon as the bell rings

I run into Naruto

And he flinches, taking a step back.

"Woah! Careful S-"

"HaveyouseenGaaratoday?"

My words are hurried and slurred

And Naruto blinks

His hair is waving

And spiky

And

FOCUS!

Naruto taps me on the shoulder.

"Are you okay Sakura?"

I force myself to calm down.

"Have you seen Gaara today?"

He shakes his head.

"I haven't seen him during Math…"

I start to panic again

Sweating, running over all the possibilities

What's if he's dead?

Naruto grasps my hand tightly

And says,

"It's okay."

But it's not

And it won't ever be.

He walks me to Japanese

And on the way we see Kiba

Who has a puppy under his coat.

He says it's his

And he brought it to school today

Since there was nobody home at his house

And the puppy would feel alone.

I look at the puppy

And think about how lucky it is

To have someone really love it

And care for it.

"What's its name?" Naruto asks.

"Akamaru. We found a bunch of boys spray-painting him red."

I gasp, but I'm not heard since the bell rings.

Kiba carefully puts the puppy back into his coat

And they share a smile (Without you)

And we all head back to class.

Sakura doesn't see Gaara for the rest of school.

But instead, the girl sees Temari. The blond is talking to Shikamaru, as usual, beside the main doors. They are in a heated discussion about wind pressure. Sakura, seeing them so happy, is almost sorry to interrupt them.

"Um, Temari-san?"

She stops mid-sentence and turns to her.

"You're that girl from yesterday." Temari says flatly, a spark of annoyance in her eyes. "Excuse me Shikamaru."

Shikamaru looks at her curiously. "What happened yesterday?"

Sakura almost blurts out the answer, but Temari taps her shoulder, warning her. "Nothing important. Just a bit of a problem with my brother, that's all."

Shikamaru glances back and forth between the two girls. "If you say so. I'll be waiting right here then."

Temari nods, and leads Sakura around the side of the building and stops at a corner.

"Why not tell Shikamaru?"

Temari's eyes waver around uneasily. "My brother isn't… I mean, not many people like him, so.."

"How is he?"

Temari fidgets, looking uncomfortable. "I… Haven't been home since yesterday. I just dropped him off at our house and left…"

"What? He was bleeding to death! Why didn't you take him to the hospital?"

"Otou-san will do a perfectly good job of taking care of him." Temari snaps, now on the defensive.

"Will do?" Sakura fumes, not believing her ears.

"I told you, I don't know about his condition!"

"What if he died?"

"Then it would be better for the world!"

The blond regrets the words as soon as they are out of her mouth.

Sakura is fuming, her anger threatening to burst out of her. "And you call yourself his SISTER?"

"Well you're not his sister, so stay out of his business!"

"It's my business because I was there! I saw him bleeding to death-"

"You don't know what he's done!" Temari screams. Sakura stops, frozen in shock. Temari blinks and slowly shrinks away from her. The blond is murmuring quietly to herself, and Sakura strains her ears to listen.

"Okaasan… Yashamaru… Kankuro…"

Sakura says nothing.

When Temari raises her head, her ice blue eyes are drilling into the pink haired girl. "You don't know anything."

She turns away, and vanishes around the corner. Sakura is frozen in shock.

Looking down at the pavement, she sees a dapple of tears.

A/N I know that Naruto's birthday is on October 10th. Not everyone's birthdays will be the same as in the real manga/anime. The POV's are not underlined. Why? Because fanfiction won't let me. =P

Please review. Please?