Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto
Recap:
All she truly wanted…was for someone…to fix her broken wings.
To lead her to her dreams.
To…save her.
Sasuke leaned over and smirked at Sakura as she forced a sweet smile back at him. They were currently in the cafeteria and it was just the two of them at a table. Ever since that rumor of them dating, Sakura and Sasuke somehow always found themselves together or near each other. Sakura's "friends" had giggled as they sat her at table as they dragged Sasuke to sit at the same table though Sakura had no idea why they would even consider doing that. She did remember one girl saying something about how sweet it looked with the two gorgeous people dating and sitting together or something like that.
Sakura couldn't really remember.
"Sakura, what are you thinking about?"
Looking up, she noted how that same trademark smirk played on the younger Uchiha's lips and glared at him from beneath her long lashes so that it wouldn't be so obvious. Before snapping back with a witty remark, she was suddenly aware of the fact that everyone's eyes were on them.
"Uchiha…we are not dating" stated Sakura, making sure that everyone heard them but Sasuke merely shrugged.
"How could you say that S-A-K-U-R-A? We've even kissed" smirked Sasuke knowingly as Sakura cursed inwardly.
Darn she should have known that the younger Uchiha would hit her back with something that could humiliate her. Not wanting to give up, she smiled sweetly at him.
"Oh but Uchiha, you kissed me. I did not kiss you" smiled Sakura, aware of how everyone's eyes widened slightly at this remark. But it unnerved her how Sasuke still hadn't lost his calm façade as he reached over to play with a lock of her rosette coloured hair.
"I suggest we take this conversation to a more…private place" smirked Sasuke as he stood up and dragged her by the hand out of the cafeteria. The other students merely gaped as the cafeteria doors swung shut and the star "couple" had disappeared from sight.
"ARE YOU CRAZY UCHIHA?" shouted Sakura as she instantly recoiled from him once he had let her hand go.
Sasuke sighed.
"I'm not crazy" stated Sasuke as he reached for her wrist with the scar that he had seen before.
Sakura gasped as he held her wrist up to study the long pinkish red scar, his eyes serious. She would have attempted to pull her hand away but she had learnt from previous occasions that Sasuke was strong.
Incredibly strong.
She gazed at how he studied her wrist with a concentrating boyish expression. The way that his jet black hair hung rakishly over one eye pained her as she remembered how Akira's hair used to always hang deliciously over his eye. Biting her lip, she turned away.
She couldn't stand to be with this Uchiha.
He was annoying, a jerk and reminded her way too much of Akira.
"Hey, Sakura…where did you get this scar from?" asked Sasuke as he looked up at her, his eyes intent and serious about discovering her answer. Sakura didn't want to look at him. That serious expression in his eyes was so similar to Akira's that she knew it would hurt her even more if she looked straight into his eyes.
"That…it's nothing" answered Sakura before Sasuke tilted her chin to look up at him. She decided then that she liked it better when he was being a jerk. Sasuke being serious…it unnerved her and created mixed emotions in her that confused her.
"Sakura…can't you tell me?" whispered Sasuke, his eyes beckoning as Sakura closed her eyes so that she wouldn't have to gaze at the boy that she had realized reminded her so much of him.
"No…I just got it from an accident long ago. It's nothing really"
Sasuke gazed at her.
For some reason, she seemed more vulnerable now as if something was really affecting her. It made him want to wrap his arms around her and comfort her. Leaning down to kiss her, the bell rang loud and clear for the students to head back to their classes.
Moving out of his arms, Sakura turned to leave. But Sasuke's words stopped her for a moment before she turned the corner.
"Sakura. I will be here for you if you ever need to talk"
Sakura's eyes widened but she fought the urge to turn back and face him and instead turned the corner to walk away from him.
There was no way that she would ever be romantically attached to anyone ever again. Not if it caused her so much pain as it had before and not when the person you love could betray you.
No…she would not fall in love again.
Because it was all lies.
Kiba took a long drag from his cigarette as both him and Gaara relaxed in Itachi's office. They had to admit that Itachi's office was way better than their hangout even if the owner of the office was currently silent.
Gaara twitched.
"Uchiha…what the hell is up with you?" asked Gaara, breaking the silence as Kiba glanced sideways at the Uchiha.
"…"
Not getting any reply from the older Uchiha, Gaara sighed as Kiba strolled over to the armchair after having stubbed out his cigarette. There were times like these when Kiba had learnt that Itachi was usually thinking of something very serious to him if he was being extremely quiet.
"My brother…asked Sakura the reason for her quitting gymnastics" commented Itachi as he opened up a folder to continue typing his work onto the computer.
Gaara's eyes widened.
Kiba sighed. He had figured that the younger Uchiha would do something drastic.
"How was Sak?" asked Kiba, more worried about the pink haired girl that was more precious to him than anything else in the world.
"She left the room quickly" answered Itachi, running his fingers through his hair as he leaned his head against his chair. There was no point asking what Sakura was doing in Itachi's office in the first place since Kiba and Gaara could probably guess what the two of them had been doing. Gaara tensed as he turned to look away.
"It's Akira's fault…everything is all his fault" accused Gaara quietly, but loud enough for the others to hear. Kiba and Itachi's eyes widened. They had never spoken of that incident that had happened 4 years ago. That incident that had stopped Sakura from continuing gymnastics and Kiba to stop all national exams. Itachi glanced at Gaara as Kiba turned to look out the window. That accident had shattered their world into pieces and it hurt them to remember what had happened.
But Gaara was slightly right.
The origin of this whole mess…was Akira.
"Gaara...not…everything was Akira's fault" commented Kiba as he turned to gaze out the window, his eyes distant.
Gaara stood up abruptly, catching both the boys attentions as he turned to face them.
"Akira betrayed Sak didn't he? How can the two of you still defend him?" snapped Gaara, oblivious to the fact that he wasn't acting like his usual silent and stoic self. He was usually calm but whenever it came to Akira or the incident, he found himself always getting irritated. He had always admired Akira and Akira was still a precious friend even now but there was no denying that Akira had started this whole mess and to Gaara, Sakura was a lot more important.
Itachi was silent as Kiba looked down.
Itachi spoke up first in response to Gaara's question.
"Gaara…there is something you or Sak don't know about Akira's betrayal" stated Itachi as he ran his fingers through his hair, a troubled expression on his features.
Gaara glanced up, surprised. There was something he didn't know? Something that had made Kiba and Itachi constantly defend Akira.
"I…found something in Akira's house…when they were cleaning out his place" explained Kiba, his eyes sad.
"What…?" asked Gaara as he looked back and forth between the Uchiha and Kiba.
He watched as Itachi slowly opened one of his drawers and pulled out…
A dark blue notebook.
Sasuke scrolled through the photos that he had found of Sakura in gymnastics. The way she had smiled then seemed so different to the way she smiled now. She looked so happy back then that it just made him even more intrigued. In every photo, Sasuke glanced down at Sakura's wrist but so far he could see that she had no scar apparent.
He was currently in the library for Konoha High since he hadn't been able to fix his security system on his computer.
Glancing at Sakura's victory photos, Sasuke noticed something or someone that always appeared beside Sakura.
A boy with jet black hair in a similar style to Sasuke's and piercing blue eyes stood grinning next to an elated Sakura. The boy was quite tall and looked to be around Sakura's age in the photo. Sasuke couldn't help but feel slightly irritated by the fact that the boy resembled him quite a bit in physical appearance. He also felt slightly annoyed that the boy was always next to Sakura and she was always smiling brightly.
"Who is he…?" wondered Sasuke out loud, as he continued flicking through more photos.
But one photo caught his eye more than any other.
It was a photo of five people and he could spot Sakura and Itachi. So Itachi had known Sakura when they were children…Sasuke had never known that they had known each other for that long. Studying the other people in the photo, he recognized Kiba and the red haired boy that he had seen at Sakura's hang out. The next person he saw was the same boy that was always next to Sakura.
Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair.
So they all knew each other since they were children…
Reading the caption beneath the photos, his eyes widened slightly.
The Elite friends.
As he opened the link to the site, he read about each of the people in the photo. It was just the site that would help him discover more about each person and especially Sakura. As he read on, he summarized all the information that he had learnt into his mind.
They were called the Elite friends because all five of them excelled in a certain area and had been friends since they were very young. That red head called Gaara excelled in athletics and had been offered scholarships overseas. Kiba was a genius and had also been offered scholarships. Sasuke didn't need to read about his brother so he skipped that. Sakura was a world champion gymnast and that boy…
His name was Akira and he was meant to be a prodigy in all areas of art and music.
Sasuke frowned.
But there was one thing that bothered him more than the fact that Sakura was close to all these boys…it was the fact that all of them had mysteriously dropped out of their competitive areas exactly…four years ago. Itachi hadn't dropped out since he was helping their father with the business but that didn't change the fact that something was incredibly strange.
There was no way that it could be a coincidence that these childhood friends had all stopped at the same time.
Sasuke was sure of it now.
Something must have happened.
Sakura sighed as she lay the back of her head against the large oak tree of Konoha High. She really could do with a cigarette right about now but she knew that it would damage her image if anyone saw the sweet, angelic Sakura smoking. As she ran her fingers down her hair, she noted sadly how short her hair was. She remembered the time when she had been able to run her hands down her long length of her hair that fell to her waist.
But…there was a saying that when you cut your hair short, it meant that you were starting over once more.
That was what her hair represented now.
It showed that she was starting over once more but somehow she felt she was lying to herself. Even though her hair was short now…it didn't change the fact that she knew as well that she still hadn't moved away from the past. It didn't change how much she missed him.
But…it didn't change the fact that he had betrayed her.
It didn't change the fact that he was…gone.
She smiled sadly. Wasn't he meant to be her wings? Then why had those wings fallen before they could reach the stars…?
Shaking her head, she still felt her heart clench at the thought of Akira…He had been everything to her.
Her heart.
Her world.
Her everything.
As she gazed up at the sky, Sakura bit her lip in sorrow.
"Akira…why…? Why did you go…? Dammit tell me the truth! I..miss…you…so much" whispered Sakura as her voice broke into sobs.
It didn't matter how many questions she asked, he would never be able to reply.
After all…Akira had died a long time ago.
"What…the hell…" mumbled Gaara quietly as he read the page of the notebook that Itachi had showed him. After he had read that, he could understand why Itachi and Kiba were always defending Akira. Gaara closed his eyes before opening them once more as he let out a sigh.
"Why…didn't you tell Sak and I…this?" asked Gaara as he held a hand to his forehead to help relieve his headache.
"We weren't sure if we should…but we realized now…we have to show Sak this" gestured Kiba as he held up the blue notebook. That's right. They had to show Sakura this as it was the only way that she would be able to move on, away from the past that they constantly remembered.
They had to show her…the last entry of Akira's diary.
The last entry that he had written dated on the night…he had died.
"Akira…tell me a story…" whispered Sakura as she leaned against his shoulder, a smile playing on her lips. Her long pink hair tickled his cheek and she glanced up at him. She loved his eyes.
She loved that colour blue that was so beautiful and the way that the piercing blue of his eyes could soften and flicker with emotion
He grinned as he wrapped his arm around her.
She loved the way his mouth would quirk upwards at the corner whenever he grinned.
She loved his warm laugh.
She loved…everything about him.
"There was once a boy who loved a girl more than words could ever put it and the girl loved him back just as much. One night, under a starry sky, the boy made a promise with the girl to never leave her side. But the girl had a secret…she was an angel who was not able to grow her pure white wings to fly. So the boy promised his beloved angel that he would become her wings. So that they could both reach their dreams and so that they could always be together…" whispered Akira as he bent down and kissed her giggling mouth softly.
Snuggling into his warm embrace, Sakura had never felt this happy in her life and was glad that she would always have Akira by her side.
But…little did she know that things would take a turn for the worse because… life isn't a story.
Reality can be harsh and cruel at times but you cannot change it.
You cannot change your life as you can in a story.
After all, life isn't a fairytale.
Ta dah! I'm really really REALLY sorry about this late update XD It's because I'm planning to go on a holiday before senior high school starts since I won't have time to go on a holiday until the next two years has passed. LOL but after those two years…I'll be going to Japan for holiday! YAY! So yeah I've been busy planning and I also had a major writers block since I'm making this up along the way and I really had no idea what to write for this chapter…
But I hoped you enjoyed it! Thank you for all your reviews! XD They were all very nice and I promise that I'll write a longer chapter next time to make up for being late with this short chapter XD
Oh and this is late but anyway HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Reviews please!
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