As the week progressed, Naruto had more suicide attempts than a suicidal maniac. And I had to stop every one.
Naruto stayed cooped up in his house every day. It was getting annoying.
The man from Ichiraku's left a ramen bowl by the door step every day. Naruto never looked, so I brought them in to tempt him to start eating again. It finally worked. Naruto never questioned how they got there.
Hinata stopped by every day. I wanted to strangle her, but I was bound. One, I considered what Shizune-niichan and Kanji said. Get Naruto's mind off me and Sasuke. Two, I can't kill or harm people. Well, I could smack Naruto silly with a vase, bowl, alarm clock, toothbrush, and anything I could grab.
Naruto seemed to enjoy her visits more and more. I was getting more and more ticked, but hey, I'm dead. I shouldn't care.
Day seven rolled by, and it was the worst. Naruto agreed to go on a date with Hinata!
I practically screamed in his face, and got pissed because I was wasting my time. He couldn't hear me anyway. So, I grudgingly followed them on their date. Of course, it was at Ichiraku's.
However, my attention was drawn away from them. I saw this interesting looking man walking down the street, his shinobi uniform flashing. What really caught my eye was the thing in his mouth. A cigarette that was not lit. I looked closer and felt my dead heart jump.
"Asuma-sensei!" I practically screamed. The man looked at me in surprise.
"Sakura? You can see me?" He asked. I ran up to him, passing through a villager on the way. This caused Asuma to drop his cigarette.
"Sakura? Your dead too?" I nodded. He shook his head.
"Damn. I have missed a lot. I have been traveling around the world since I died. Figured I'd look at this place once more before I move on. How did you die?"
I told him about my tragic end and why I was here now. He merely laughed at me.
"Wow! Lucky! So you are the protector now huh?" He glanced back at Naruto and Hinata. Naruto was actually smiling a little. Asuma then smiled at me. "Glad you let Naruto move on. It's better that way. You can fix it when you get back."
I sighed in pain. "It hurts, but if it will stop his suicide attempts, I'll face it."
Asuma smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. He felt warm to me.
"Your a good person Sakura. This will be better for him in the long run." Asuma assured me.
I smiled and hugged Asuma. "I'll miss you. And when I come back alive, I'll send Shikamaru your regards."
Asuma laughed. "Thanks Sakura, now I must visit my son before I pass on. Take care Sakura. Be strong." With that, Asuma floated away.
I felt renewed in my efforts. That was a great pep talk.
After the date with Hinata, Naruto had a lot less suicide attempts. Good thing too. I was running out of ammo to smack him with.
Day Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen passed quickly.
On day Fourteen, Naruto actually left his house on his own free will. It hurt to admit that Hinata was helping, but at least Naruto was getting better. Asuma's words kept burning in my heart. It was up to me. If I wanted to be alive again, I would have to be strong.
Day Fifteen rolled around quickly. Half way there. That's when things got tangled up.
I was following Naruto and Hinata when I saw Shizune-niichan. She waved and gave me the thumbs up.
What the heck was that for?
I looked back to Naruto and Hinata, and saw they were holding hands. I nearly choked. They were moving a bit fast! That was too quick!
They began to go on dates at every meal. It was sickening. This sucked. Here I am trying to get back to Naruto, only to end up pushing him to another woman!
However, everyday, without Hinata, Naruto would visit my grave. This action made me feel a little better. At least he hasn't forgotten me already. He would lay flowers on it every day. He brought a bowl of ramen every week. He dubbed it as 'The ramen I would have gotten if I went on a date with him.'
I was dead and I felt sick. I didn't even think that was possible. One, I might never get to go on a date with him. Two, it was the ramen flavor I hated most. Naruto would spend twenty minutes at my grave everyday. He never visited Sasuke's grave, however. I never did either. The dude killed me. I will not go pay my respects to him.
Day sixteen, I decided to go down the dark path.
I became a poltergeist.
I dropped water balloons on Hinata when she visited. It was funny to me, traumatizing to her, a mystery to Naruto.
A perfect break up?
No.
Hinata visited more and more. She and Naruto practically paraded through Konoha every hour. I had to follow this parade like a groupie.
The only thing that cheered me up was that Shizune-niichan always waved when she saw me.
Unfortunately, this caught Neji's attention.
The fact that Shizune-niichan waved to Hinata and Naruto's backs was odd. She was never exactly subtle about it. He did the same chakra eye thing. He saw me this time.
And this time, I waved to him too. He looked like he had been slapped. Oh well, not my problem. It didn't matter anyway. I was a guardian to this pair of love struck loonies.
Kanji visited a lot to comfort me. I found myself calling her down a lot. The pain of seeing the one I love with another was getting to me. Also, I tended to be lonely at times. Sure I was surrounded by people, but what's the use if they can't see me?
"Come on Sakura, cheer up. Only eleven days left. Be strong." I sobbed dry tears.
"Be strong? Be strong? I can't do it! I can't handle it anymore!" I cried out. Kanji hugged me. "Your halfway there. Almost done. Then comes the judgment of passing or failing."
I nodded. At this point, I didn't care. This was just unfair.
Shizune-niichan didn't help either. When Naruto was with Hinata, I sometimes snuck away to talk to her. She assured me this was the right way. Fat chance.
That night, Naruto had the first nightmare in days. But this time when I touched him, he jerked away, shivering. I called Kanji down and had her explain.
"After a while, your presence becomes cold to them. That's why."
I tried to punch the wall, but my hand went through it. I couldn't even use my chakra to calm myself. Since I was dead, I had no chakra for me to access. I only had the spirit section of chakra.
This was going to get ugly real soon.
