Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

Chapter 9

The Thing called Loneliness

A seven years old girl with silky, pink hair sat on a swing. She once possessed a rare pair of dazzling emerald green eyes but now, those orbs had lost its sparkle. She looked at the empty swing beside her and she couldn't help but think how it would feel like if she had a friend.

Loneliness.

It made her feel lonely in that old and abandoned playground.

Her thoughts were cut off when she heard some noises coming from the bushes near her. She immediately stood up, her knees shaking because of fear. She wondered who or what made those noises. She wanted to run but it seemed like her feet were glued to the ground.

"Who's there?" she called out but then, she realized that she didn't even know whether it's a thing or a person.

She screamed when a boy with short flaming red hair appeared from the bushes. Then she felt that person wrapped one of his arms around her tiny waist and the other hand, he used to cover her mouth, preventing her from shouting. When the person felt that she had finally calmed down, he let go of her and he faced her.

"W…Who are y…you?" the pink-haired girl asked, still in a state of shock. She faced him and saw that the color of his eyes was almost the same as hers.

The boy walked towards the empty swing beside the swing where the girl used to sit.

"You look a lot like the woman me and my sister saw and you both even have the same hair color," the red-haired boy told her as he moves the swing back and forth.

At first, the girl hesitated to talk to him but after a while, she finally did.

"I do…don't th…think so. May…may…maybe you're mistaken. Okaa-san told me that I'm the only one in this village who has pink hair," the little girl replied, stuttering at first because of her shyness but afterwards, she was able to talk normally.

The boy looked at her intently, causing her to blush. She bowed down her head, thinking that he was looking at her forehead.

"Are you afraid of me?" the boy asked her.

The girl looked up in order to see him and she realized that he was still looking at her. She was surprised that he didn't mention anything about her forehead being wide and all.

"Why would I be afraid?" she asked then she realized that she just answered his question with another question.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

"I'm…Sakura," the little girl said with a hint of shyness in her little voice. She decided to sit down on the swing again.

"I'm Gaara," the boy replied as he smiled.

Somehow, Sakura didn't feel sad anymore.

They don't know what to say to each other so they just remained silent. If you look at them, you could easily tell that they were both contented with each other's presence.

After a few minutes, Gaara finally decided to speak. Just when he was about to say something, they both heard a loud voice.

"Gaara-kun, where are you?" a voice said.

Gaara knew that voice because he just heard it a while ago. That voice belongs to the woman with pink hair who hugged him this morning. He didn't really want to leave his newfound friend but he didn't want his father to be angry with him. He knew very well that when he found out that he escaped from the people who were supposed to look after him, he would be greatly displeased.

He stood up and he faced Sakura.

"I have to go. Thank you," he told her as he turned his back on her and started walking away.

Sakura felt happy because she found a new friend and sad because he left her right away.

………………………………….

"Where did you go? We have been looking everywhere for you," Sakura asked him.

Gaara just looked up at her and gave her a blank look. He was surprised because there was a hint of worry in her voice. He wondered if she was really worried because he was gone.

"Where is Temari nee-san?" he asked her.

"She's with Itachi-kun. Don't worry your sister is okay. She became scared when she found out that you're gone. Let's go, they've been waiting for you at the park. Your father would be worried when he finds out that you're missing," Sakura said as she took him by the hand and they walked away from the place.

………………………………….

Itachi, Sasuke and Temari were at the park. Sakura was gone for at least three hours and Itachi was already worried about her. He decided that if she didn't show up for the next five minutes, he would look for her. Earlier, she insisted that she would be the only one to look for Gaara and that they should stay in that place. He was kind of unhappy about the idea but for unknown reasons, he suddenly agreed. He concluded that it was because of her eyes that he felt like giving in to her request.

He felt relieved when he saw Sakura with Gaara walking towards them. He stood up from the bench where he sat and walked over to them with Sasuke and Temari behind him.

Temari immediately hugged his brother as soon as they reached them and he smiled because this was the first time he saw his sister like that.

"I think we'll have to go now. It's already 5:00 in the evening. The Kazekage must be looking for his children now. Sasuke, you go home first. We will bring Temari and Gaara to the Hokage's office," Itachi said.

Sasuke pouted but he still obeyed his brother.

…………………………………………..

Itachi and Sakura just came out from the Hokage's office and were both walking towards the Uchiha mansion. Both of them remained silent. Sakura was not used to silence so she decided to speak up.

"Um…Itachi-kun, can I ask you something?" she said, unable to look at him in the eyes.

"What is it?"

"Well, I just want to ask your opinion. I have a friend and…he seems to be happy and contented with his life but…" she paused, searching for the right words to say.

"But what?" he asked her again, when he noticed that she stopped speaking.

She felt uneasy but then, she decided to continue because she wanted to find out something. She blamed it all on curiosity.

"Well…one day, everyone was surprised when they found out that he…killed all the members of his clan and he left his younger brother as the only survivor. What do you think is the reason he did such crime?" she finally managed to complete her question. Her heart was beating fast because of nervousness.

Itachi looked up towards the heaven. The sun could hardly be seen now as it was 6:00 in the evening.

"Well…I don't really know because I haven't met this friend of yours but I think that what he did is really bad and unforgivable," he finally said.

Sakura looked at him, surprised and confused. Here she was, talking to Itachi, the one who murdered his family and clan and he just told her that killing was bad. How ironic…

They continued to walk towards the Uchiha mansion in complete silence.