A/N: Hello, guys! I've got another chapter for you, a special one just for the coming of the new year! I hope you enjoy the surprise I've cooked up for you!
Ino had been too torn up because of seeing him that Sakura sent her home with Karin for her own emotional good.
Karin had initially protested, but once she saw the state Ino had been driven to, she stopped, kissed her boy friend goodbye and called an older school friend to drive them back to Sakura's house.
Said pinkette sighed, rubbing her forehead. She sat on a pristine white bench in the midst of a never-ending crowd of shoppers moving this way and that, their chatter creating a somewhat pleasant ambience.
Tenten had gone off with Neji somewhere to do whatever they did when alone. Sakura had sent them off with a smile and wink, but now she was somewhat regretting sending her friend off with her boyfriend.
She absentmindedly pulled out her cell phone. She eyed it as the screen lit up, showing her lock screen wallpaper. She debated whether or not to text him. After a minute, she decided not to, pocketed her phone, and stood up to stretch.
As her eyes scanned the area, she mumbled a swear as she saw a familiar head of black spiked hair.
That familiar head of blacked spiked hair was accompanied by a group of said head of blacked spiked hair's older brother's company, all laughing and talking, some sipping on slushies.
She turned to walk towards Bed, Bath, and Beyond in hopes that they wouldn't suddenly spot her, but just as she took that first step, she heard Itachi call out to her.
She froze on the spot, gritting her teeth together, cursing that wretched member of the Uchiha species for noticing her on this one day, this one day, when she could already feel a headache coming on.
"Ah, Sakura-san! Nice to see you today." Itachi strode on over, accompanied by the Akatsuki and, unfortunately, Sasuke.
She turned and plastered a smile on for pleasantries. "Itachi-san. Hey."
"It's very disappointing that you couldn't make it last night." Konan smiled weirdly at her, and Sakura very quickly got the hint. "As if I hadn't gotten it already from seeing Duck's Ass here."
"Yeah, I guess. The good news is that I got to get all my studying done for the finals soon, so..."
"Always the nerdy one, eh?" Kisame chuckled at her.
"Hey, at least I've got legit goals after high school, Sharky." She grinned at him. "What're you gonna be?"
"Haven't decided yet, thanks for asking." He shrugged playfully.
"Anyways, what are you doing here?" Deidara asked, looking around. "I thought the blonde one and the weapon chick were here too."
"Tenten went off with Neji, and...Ino...went home." She shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. "Well, why are you here?"
"Shopping, I suppose." Itachi gave an intentional gesture with his eyes to Sakura, and she saw him hinting at Sasuke.
She internally sighed and plastered on a grin. "Sup, Chicken Boy?"
"When will you stop calling me that?" He asked, annoyed.
"When all of my dreams get achieved." She deadpanned with a serious expression. She paused, then laughed a few seconds later. "Kidding. I'll never stop."
"I suspected as much." He grumbled, mostly to himself, and Itachi chuckled.
"So, heard you were lookin' at jewelry. What's the big occasion, Chicken Boy?" She folded her arms across her chest and watched with amusement as he began blushing in embarassment.
"It's not-"
"Not what? Not what it looks like?" She grinned at him. "Believe me, I support you getting a girlfriend one hundred percent if it means you'll get your little fans to stop harassing me. Doesn't bug me, a'course, but like everyone else I have my limits."
"I don't have a girlfriend." His eyes narrowed at her.
"Could have fooled me." She muttered to Kisame, and he burst out into laughter.
"Well, fellas, it's been fun talking to you, but I have to go find 'weapon chick'." She saluted mockingly and, with a grin, walked off after Itachi ruffled her hair and the gang said goodbye.
Sasuke watched her go. "She was tense. She obviously did not want to be approached by Itachi...so why did she...? She's hiding something, I know it."
After a few more hours of shopping, Sakura decided to go home again. Tenten said she would be catching up with her later, and Hinata got permission from her parents to come over. Sakura felt like Karin would be asking about that story sooner or later.
"Karin, I'm home." She announced upon walking in the door. Said redhead walked into view from the hallway with a small, crooked smile.
"Hey." She said. "Ino's calmed down and I asked her to stay over because I wanted to know."
"About...?"
"Your past."
"Ah, called it." Sakura nodded, leaning against the door. "Tenten and Hinata will be here soon, so can you wait until then?"
"Yeah, I can." She looked away for a moment, then looked her sister in the eyes. "Did Sasuke seem off to you today?"
"Why should I know? It's not like I love the guy." She snorted, striding over to ruffle her sister's hair, despite her protests. "Come on. You ate already?"
"No. We were gonna order a pizza and were waiting until you got here."
"Thanks, thanks." The pinkette nodded and followed her back to Sakura's bedroom where Ino was huddled on her bed, staring at her phone.
"Hey, Ino. You feeling okay?" She asked, catching her attention.
She looked up and gave her a small smile. "I'm doing okay...have you seen what's trending on Facebook?"
"Yep..." Sakura thought with a smile and a sigh. "She's back to normal."
"Hey, Sakura." Tenten called, a lovely scent filling the house. "I brought pizza."
"Ah, Ten! You're a saint!" Sakura ran out to the living room to glomp her friends.
"We're far from saints, Sakura-chan..." Hinata smiled gently.
"You brought pizza to a hungry woman." Sakura laughed. "I feel like you're a saint, at least."
"Hey, Tenten. Hinata." Karin greeted, walking with Ino out to the room.
"I brought a couple types of pizza." Tenten gestured to the several pizza boxes she carried. "One of them is primarily for your parents because I know they can eat a whole box in a night."
"Thanks. They would've gone crazy." Karin laughed.
They all sat down at the table and began eating, each grabbing a couple of slices. Laughter and talking soon permeated the atmosphere.
"So, um..." Karin suddenly started, making the others look at her. "Is now a good time to know?"
The four exchanged glances and Sakura sighed, a somber expression taking over her face.
"So you wanted to know why I avoid Sasuke like the plague, huh?" Sakura asked her, a grim look on her face.
"Yeah." Karin nodded.
"Okay, then...but I will warn you. Nothing I tell you can leave this house. Okay?"
"Okay. I understand."
Sakura looked to her friends with a grim smile. She squeezed Ino and Hinata's hands and looked back to her sister. "It all started in second grade..."
A/N: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Time out for a second. This is the point in the original script where I made this a whole new chapter. But since I'm putting out this one on New Year's, I decided to make a couple of adjustments. For all of you who have been dying to know her backstory, here's a little gift for you!
"Oi! Forehead!" A girl yelled, catching her attention. She turned and paled when one of them stomped up to her, looking fiercely angry.
"Y-yes?" She began to tremble when a couple of them surrounded her, the leader standing over her, casting a sinister shadow over her.
"I have some news for you, pinky." The leader spat the name out like it was poison. "I don't like you being near Sasuke-kun, okay? You better back off before you get beat up."
"What are you talking about?" She looked confused. "I can like Sasuke too, can't I?"
"Not when we do!" The brunette yelled, throwing a punch at her face. Sakura's head snapped back from the force of the blow, and her eyes went wide. Tears gathered in her eyes, but right when she was about to start sobbing, the bully glared. "You cry and I end you."
Sakura tried to bite her lip to keep the tears at bay, with all the girls laughing at her.
"Lookit the crybaby!" They taunted. "Aww, is the poor crybaby hurt?"
Sakura looked at the grass, feeling the humiliation burning on her cheeks. "S-Sasuke will never like you when you do that!"
"So, you think you're hot stuff, huh?" One of the girls loomed in Sakura's face threateningly, glaring as she gripped her chin and forced it up. "You think you're the top dog because Sasuke noticed you, don't you? Well, we've got news for you. He'll never love you!"
"Whaddya talking about..." Sakura chuckled weakly, wiping blood off her lip. "He's not yours to claim...he's a human being..."
"Not quite broken yet. I think we should teach her a lesson." The leader grinned wickedly and grabbed her long, pink hair forcefully, yanking her backward. Sakura yelped in pain, catching the attention of some other girls there.
She struggled feebly against the grip, only groaning in pain when she was yanked again.
"Don't try to get away, Haruno." She sneered. "You deserve every bit of what's coming to you."
She gritted her bloody teeth, her eyes clenched shut. She tightened her fists, not caring that she was digging dirt into her fingernails.
She could hear faint voices.
"Sakura-chan!" Hinata's voice rang out, and she opened her glassy eyes to grin weakly at her.
"Stay back, HInata..." She called, feeling tears dribble down her face when she was kicked in the stomach. She gasped for air, choking and coughing up blood. "I'll b-be fine...!"
Another girl gasped and ran away from the scene, presumably to call for help.
"Look at you...you're weak." One of them spat, punching her in the cheek. Her head was violently jerked the other way and she cried out in pain. "Can't even take the punches we're throwing."
"Stop..." She begged, spitting bloody saliva onto the ground a few feet away. "Stop...!"
"Not even Sasuke can save you now."
Sakura began to sob quietly as they hit her, blow after blow.
"What can I do...? I'm no match for them..." She thought miserably. "Dammit...if only I- wait..."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out the kunai Sasuke had given her. It gleamed in the light; he had claimed his brother had given it to him. She knew it was no play knife. An idea popped into her head and she grinned, laughing weakly.
One of the bullies noticed. "Aww, trying to hurt us, now, are you?"
She turned to the one holding her hair and smirked. "It's not meant for you." She hissed.
"What do you mean...?!" One of them kicked her again, and she grunted.
Sakura could see through blurry vision Sasuke's hair as a dot of black against a hazy blue background.
She gritted her teeth, holding it firmly, just as he'd taught her.
With one swipe, she sliced.
The bully fell backwards with a yell of surprise, and locks of bubblegum pink fluttered to the ground all around her as she stood, glaring at them.
One of them tried to rush her, but she blocked and kicked right in the clavicle.
She went down, screaming in pain, and Sakura whirled around to punch another in the lips.
One by one they dropped like flies, the rest of the school watching in shock at the frail girl actually fighting back. Sasuke's eyes widened a fraction, but he turned away and disappeared in the crowd.
By the time the teacher had gotten there, Sakura had fallen to her scraped knees, panting for ragged breaths with the toppled girls all around her, groaning and whimpering in pain.
"And I told you the rest. Even though they beat me up first, and I had the injuries to prove it, the principal expelled me and the bullies only got suspended for a month. I cried on graduation day when I sat in the audience with my family."
"I always felt partially responsible for what happened..." Hinata said softly, squeezing her hand. "If...if I hadn't been such a coward, Sakura wouldn't have gotten expelled."
"I...I had no idea..." Ino sat, shell-shocked. "Wait...that girl...!"
"That was one of your little friends." Sakura gazed at her with a grim smile. "That's why I don't hang out with you...besides you keeping up your reputation."
"I'm so sorry, Sakura..." Tenten said quietly.
"It's not any of your faults." She firmly shook her head. "I'm a better person because of what happened, because it taught me to toughen up. It taught me to not crush so incessantly on stupid boys."
"But..." Karin licked the grease off her lips. "You still love him...right?"
Sakura was silent for a long time, staring hard at the table. Hinata looked sad, and Ino was looking away. Tenten shook her head silently.
"I..." Sakura's voice startled everyone out of their own thoughts. "I know, it's really freaking stupid. I know I shouldn't. But...my love for him was too strong to ever go away, even if he avoided me like the plague for years afterward."
"You still have feelings?" Ino looked mildly surprised. "I thought you hated him..."
"I put up a front so nobody can mess with me because of it again." She gave her a meaningful look. "Do you realize how many girls would be after me if I said it loud and proud? Not to mention, Chicken Boy hates my guts now because of that roast in the parking lot. If he knew I was the girl that kissed him last night, I'd never live it down."
"I get it..." Karin rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Would you ever want him to like you back?"
"Honestly? I bet I would be the happiest girl in the world." Her voice grew quieter, more somber. "But I know it will never happen. I will continue to be that girl that annoys the hell out of him, and he'll be the one forever wondering who kissed him at the party."
At that point, Karin excused herself to go to the bathroom.
Walking away from the group, she shut the door and washed her hands with the fragrant cherry blossom soap Sakura always loved. Looking at herself in the mirror, she began to smile as a plan began to unfold in her mind...
A/N: I hope you liked the extra-long chapter! Have a happy New Year, everyone, and let's hope 2017 will be a better year for everyone!
Fun Question: What resolutions do you have for this new year? What do you want to see come true in this story in the future? Feel free to write them in the comments!