AN: Guess what time it is? :D Pumpkin pie time, that's what! XD Happy Thanksgiving! (or, as I like to say, "Happy Pumpkin Pie Day!") Thanks for all the feedback guys! I am so THANKful! ;D

Okay, so about this chapter: I'm kinda gonna back track a little, to cover some of the stuff that happened during the guilt fest, so I apologize if it confuses you. Let me know if you need anything clarified, and I'll do my best to answer your questions.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any characters other than my own.

To:

tvizz: Omg no, no! Sweetie, of course I'm not offended! XD I appreciate all opinions, whether random or constructive or flattering :D And is it? To tell the truth, I don't really have any video games (unless you count a Nintendo DS) so I can't say I know those games. But I think I know what you mean. *nods* And, hey, from my perspective, having my fic compared to anything someone would find worth playing is a good thing^^ so thank you!

mrgirmjaw: aww I'm glad :D I must admit, I was rather worried about the last chapter myself, so it was a relief to read all the positivity^^

9-tailed reaper: I'm glad you're not dissatisfied^^ and if I do make any errors (grammatical or otherwise) feel free to point them out or criticize them to your heart's content, because I can totally understand if that bothers you. *nods*

Ichigo Kuroyuki: lol thanks! I'm glad it's fascinating :D

Emmy loves her Demon Naru: don't worry, the chain part shall be explained soon *winks (like the dork I am)* and yay for yayz! Yayz are always a good sign! XD I'm glad you're happy with the chapter! As I said to mrgirmjaw, that chapter had me kind of worried. e_O so thanks! XD

Kurai Shigashi: Omg you're right! O_o I didn't even notice! My bad^^' I hope this chapter kind of makes up for it, although those are my favorite holidays. (how did I miss them? .) I'm so glad you appreciate the logic and insight :D and I respect that you say not only what you liked about it, but what you dislike. (I really value integrity^^) Hope you like what you read!

The Fall

Chapter 10

Naruto

I had no clue as to what sort of inner conflict Sakura-chan was dealing with. Whatever had started that one summer day changed something. Though I had no idea what was going on or how it had happened, I knew one thing for sure: I didn't like it.

Since Sakura-chan didn't seem to want me to find out what was going on – let alone actually try to be of some help – I decided it might be a good idea to try to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

And wait, even though I wanted to help so much, so so much, I waited. And I told myself I would keep waiting, wait until she solved her problem on her own or came to me herself. But waiting was so hard; watching Sakura-chan struggle and drag herself away into some unknown universe where she could get lost and never find her way back out again, it was so hard.

But I waited.

I waited.

I waited.

The months pulled themselves by sluggishly and Sakura-chan was only disappearing further into a place where I couldn't follow her.

Sakura-chan pretended not to notice when it was her birthday. It brought no joy. No one celebrated for her "Sweet Sixteen" thing. Although we'd been seeing a lot less of each other lately, the two of us still saw a lot of each other. Therefore, it was hard to be completely sure, but I was pretty certain that Sakura-chan the Ghost wasn't getting any older. She still looked like she'd just turned fifteen a few weeks ago.

It was on the day that Sakura Haruno was supposed to turn sixteen when I realized: it had been almost a whole year since she'd died.

Then, suddenly, it was the day before she died.

Sakura

I hated being around Naruto. I hated it. I hated making him be so considerate of his actions – something I'd used to internally beg for, and now something that appalled me. Because it wasn't right. Naruto wasn't supposed to have to think so much about things, be so careful about his actions. Naruto was supposed to be spontaneous, exciting, annoying and oblivious and accidentally insensitive and way too easy to antagonize.

Naruto was supposed to be happy.

But because I was around, he was worried. He worried about being too careless and doing something he shouldn't, something that might wind him up in a too-clean hospital, under the constant watch of nurses and security, numbed and dazed from regular sets of pills he didn't even need.

Because I was around, Naruto couldn't be himself.

It scared me. It frightened me beyond imagination, beyond freaking death to think that I was the cause of it.

But.

But at the same time, I hated not to be around him.

Whenever we were apart, separated by goodbyes or sleep or simply by me, the chain on my wrist seemed to be there to remind me of the person who was so unwittingly at the other end. It reminded me of him, which made me think of not only why we should just stay away from each other, but also of the all reasons – from the toweringly huge ones to the almost insignificantly miniscule ones – that I didn't want to.

I don't want us to be apart.

XXX

The days left in March after my birthday were very limited in number. As if they seemed to realize that fact, those days seemed to try to stretchstretchstretch to exceed the twenty-four hour limit. The hours were built upon minutes, minutes of seconds; the second were built upon silence.

For there was a hush in Naruto's house.

Naruto and I didn't talk much during the days that followed my would-be Sweet Sixteen. To be honest, even I wasn't quite sure why, myself. Maybe we weren't in the mood for chit-chat. Or maybe we just didn't know what to say. Either way, neither of us did much speaking. Even Jiraiya, who was completely unaware of my ghostly existence, was fairly quiet. He just worked on his novel, trying to muffle the occasional fits of giggles that seemed to erupt at regular intervals when he was in his "writing mode".

Then, March was over.

It was April Fools' Day: the day before I died.

XXX

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's wannabe-whisper broke the long period of soundlessness on the morning of April Fools' Day.

I'd been zoning out, pushing reality to the side while I drowned in the every crevice of my mind; it's what I always did when Naruto slept (because apparently ghosts are not only dead – they're also insomniacs).

"Sakura-chan!" he whispered again, a bit louder. "Are you awake?"

"No."

"Oh, good," he gave me a quick smile, before meeting my eyes with a more serious look. "Sakura-chan, don't move." His eyes were twinkling intensely at me, blue and too pretty to be fair.

"What?" I mumbled.

He repeated, "Don't move." He lifted his hand slowly up, towards my head. He placed his hand softly behind my ear, barely touching my hair.

I bet my eyes were bugging out of their sockets right about then.

"Naruto, what are you–" I was sputtering. Sputtering! Like some heroine from one of those vampire romances, right before the "dark, mysterious, and conveniently handsome" hero was about to plant his fangs rightinto her – wait, what? What the heck was I thinking about? "What–?"

"There's a spider in your hair."

"Oh," I said. For some reason, I felt a little…disappointed? Huh? "Okay."

Naruto stopped upon hearing my reply, and looked down at me. "'Okay'?" He looked disappointed, too.

God, why was everyone feeling so disappointed this morning?

"Yeah…? Okay."

He rolled his eyes. "Sakura-chan," he sighed melodramatically, "you're not supposed to be all cool with it! That ruins the fun!" He removed his hand from my hair and showed me his outstretched palm. In it, he held…

"A rubber spider?" I poked it, just to make sure. "You were trying to pull one on me?" I mused. "Huh. Well, nice job."

"Look, normally that kind of stuff would work. You just did it wrong." He tried to sound defensive, but I could almost hear the laughter he seemed to be suppressing.

I couldn't help but to smile at the sound – the sweet sound – that I hadn't heard in too long.

Naruto

Okay, so the rubber spider prank wasn't exactly original. As it turned out, it wasn't even a success. But it still seemed to do what I'd wanted it to: it got Sakura-chan to smile.

In the end, wasn't that what mattered?

In any case, I'd thought that it might be a good idea to lighten the mood a bit. Because the conversation that was coming, the one that I'd decided could no longer be avoided, wasn't going to bring any laughs.

Not from me.

Not from Sakura-chan - definitely not.

Sakura

When I saw the look on Naruto's face – bitter-sweet and a little pained – my smile faded.

I didn't notice that a weight had been lifted until it returned, heavy and sharp and crushingly strong.

"What is it?" I found myself whispering. (And I mean real whispering – not like Naruto's own harsh, carrying brand.)

"Sakura-chan."

I tore my gaze away from his. I didn't want to look in his eyes. Not when they were screaming at me "I'm sorry".

"Sakura-chan," he took a deep breath, "tell me what's going on."

I knew what would happen if I looked at him again, met his blue-blue gaze again: I'd crumble. I'd spill my guts out to him, my angsty teenage-girl guts. There might be tears (my resolve hardened with my horror at the thought of it).

And he'd crumble too. It would happen slowlyslowlyslowly, painfully and achingly slowly, as me and my problems chipped away at him until he was nothing but dust – pieces of dust – that would blow away in a soft breeze no one else would feel.

It wouldn't even take that much to pulverize us both, because so much had already happened. Not much else was needed.

all my fault

It wasn't until after it was too late that I realized I'd said those words aloud.

"What's all your fault?" Naruto asked slowly.

I didn't gasp. I didn't start hyperventilating or crying or going into hysterics. I simply froze, wishing I was as invisible to Naruto Uzumaki as I was to the rest of the world.

But I wasn't.

He and I both knew that I was there.

"Sakura-chan," he said again, "what's all your fault?"

It was back again: the magical Tsunami of Emotion.

guilt

anger

loneliness

pain

frustration

dissatisfaction

I was no surfer.

Naruto was saying something, but I couldn't make out the words; the great wave was like a barrier, muffling my senses and drowning me, crushing me, bursting me wide open–

Just when I was about to give into self-pity, I realized something:

I shouldn't.

Self-pity was what had gotten me here – here, meaning dead, stuck, left using Naruto as a crutch.

I couldn't let him break trying to support me.

And so, I'd just have to support myself.

The tsunami seemed to subside. It was still there, just fainter – faint enough for me to regain my senses.

"Sakura-chan," Naruto persisted, his tone gentle but firm.

I looked at the chain.

And then looked a lot harder.

The links were loosening.

AN: Okay, that's the end of chapter ten! We're closing in on the finale, but rest assured there will be some (attempted) explanations before that happens. Please tell me what you thought! (Be brutally honest, if you want; go for it! 8D)