Inner me was silent ever since that traumatizing encounter with my Future Inner Self and her silence was almost deadly, like a blade relentlessly slashing through my soul.

I was still standing in the same very spot, too afraid to make any movement, and it's already been thirty minutes since her departure, it now being midnight.

It was hard to breath and I couldn't stop shaking. My thoughts all felt distorted and her unforgettable words kept echoing all throughout my mind nonstop, completely haunting me.

Honestly, it's just so hard to grasp the fact that there is an atrocious evil gradually building up inside of me,

and to actually be aware of it is just so... so petrifying.

...

Nothing can ever be the same now.

"Sakura?"

I swiftly twirled around on my right foot to see Naruto now standing a few inches away from me and he looked worried, his glistening eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

He was in his sleepwear.

How can I tell?

Well, for starters, he was wearing the most adorable sleeping cap that I have ever seen, which made me just want to cuddle him on the spot, and it was so cute that I almost forgot about what had just occurred moments ago. His gorgeous spiky blond hair complemented the cap perfectly and I honestly wanted one of those caps for myself. It looked like a cute little black and white critter that was just munching on his head and gosh it was just soooooo cute!

Wait.

That sounds more violent than cute.

Erm. Anyway...

He also wore a loose black t-shirt along with black broad shorts to match and Naruto looked way more attractive, way more handsome.

We just stared at each other for a brief moment before Naruto finally spoke up again.

"Eh, sorry if I interrupted your training, Sakura-chan. I was just getting kind of worried because it's so dark out and all. You also didn't come back yet. So... Yeah..."

I opened my mouth to say something but it felt like someone had completely stolen my voice by sucking it out like a mere vacuum would and great trauma could be seen in my eyes if close enough.

This wasn't good.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and took a step forward.

"Sakura? ...You okay?" he asked a little cautiously, now frowning.

What should I do?

I want to tell Naruto what just happened but then again I don't because what if my Future Inner Self tries to hurt him or something?

Truthfully, I'm scared to tell anyone...

Would they even believe me?

...

"Okay. Something's up. What's wrong?" Naruto demanded a little sternly and those azure eyes of his were now carefully scrutinizing me.

Luckily, I then finally regained my voice...

"O-Oh! Sorry! Um... I was just totally amazed by your adorable sleeping cap!" I claimed, which wasn't entirely a lie because I was, and a sheepish laugh made it's exit out of my lips. "Wh-Where did you get it from, Naruto?"

"Huh? Uh... I actually don't really remember..." Naruto answered awkwardly while rubbing the back of his head and he then inquired, "But are you sure that there isn't anything wrong?"

"I'm living, aren't I?" I joked, totally avoiding the question, and an artificial giggle erupted from my lips.

Naruto crossed his arms, still suspicious. "Sakura..."

"Naruto, it's okay!" I cheerfully assured while forcing a lousy smile onto my lips and also said, "I'm just super pooped from training! Nothing really to worry about..."

There's plenty to worry about.

Naruto was still eyeing me with much doubt but he then shrugged and let out a sigh. "Okay. If you say so... But... You seemed really spooked before, like you just saw a ghost or something-"

"Hey, where is Jiraiya?" I casually asked, trying to change the subject.

How am I acting so composed?

Especially in front of him...

Naruto let out an annoyed groan and bitterly muttered, "Pervy Sage is sleeping his ass off right now from practically doing nothing but being a damn pervert..."

"Huh...? Didn't he help you train though?" I asked confused.

"Barely," Naruto huffed and bitterness still tinged his voice.

"So you trained alone? How was it then...?" I softly asked, trying to smile at him.

"Eh, it was whatever..." Naruto mumbled and he then turned around, his back now facing me. "Let's head back, Sakura-chan."

I nodded.

"Okay."

•*•*•Twenty minutes later•*•*•

We were now in our hotel room and I was in the bathroom, currently taking a shower.

Naruto and Jiraiya were sound asleep on the floor, both snoring, and

pretty soon I would be joining them, except I wouldn't snore...

I don't snore.

...

Anyway...

Not even the soothing warm water from my shower could relax me and I couldn't stop thinking about what happened, about what my Future Inner Self told me...

I felt like I was in a never ending nightmare, unable to ever wake up.

'Your body will be mine and all mine.

Soon enough...'

Those haunting words of hers kept following me like my own shadow, not once allowing me to feel ever secure...

What do I do? Evil is lurking inside me...

A few months. That's what she said. I only have a few months until this curse mark of mine fully drowns my second soul into pure darkness and then I would be too. What can I do...?

If she obtains her power to the full extent by taking over my entire body, then it would all be over. She's already incredibly powerful enough and I know that she is since the book to the other alternate universes was created by her. Just imagining her at her full power is horrifying and I think that she would be even stronger than Oreo and Itachi combined...

That's scary.

I have to try to find some way to save Inner me, to remove this curse mark, or to find the person that separated Future Inner Me from myself.

I have to do everything in my power to prevent her from getting her full power, from getting me.

If not...

I might sacrifice myself.

In the academy, I learned that sometimes a Shinobi has to sacrifice themselves in order to prevent havoc against others, to protect the ones they love, even if it hurts a lot...

I'm willing to do that if that's what it really takes and I'll try my best to be brave.

The world would be in ruin if she get's ahold of that power and I say that without even really knowing what her real plans are but...

I can never give up.

In the end, if I find out that there is no way to stop her from taking over my body, I will have no choice but to take away my own life, so she can't harm anybody...

...and knowing this scares me so much.

Tears began to unleash from my gloomy eyes, now blending in with the warm water that was rushing down on me, and I remained silent with a blank expression, my mouth never opening once.

I shouldn't let this interfere with my life too much though, after all, she weirdly enjoys seeing me suffer for some odd reason, and I'm not going to let her have that pleasure anymore.

Right now, I need to focus on getting even stronger, so I could stop Oreo from getting his nasty hands on Sasuke, and for myself in general.

I can't let Sasuke leave the village.

...

Wow. I'm so stupid. I should be getting stronger for Naruto too.

After all, the Akatsuki are after him, and I'm going to try my best to protect my ramen lover teammate from them.

I'll do everything I can.

"CHA! THAT'S KICK ASS!" Inner me abruptly remarked and I flinched, totally startled.

Inner? You're still-

"CHA! YES! OF COURSE I'M STILL HERE AND I HEARD EVERYTHING MY FUTURE SELF TOLD YOU! IT TOTALLY EXPLAINS MY MAJOR PMS LATELY BUT ANYWAYS...

DON'T LET THAT BITCH GET TO YOU! WE'LL FIND A WAY OUT OF THIS SOMEHOW BUT I CAN FEEL MY THOUGHTS GROWING MORE DARKER AND DARKER WITH EACH SECOND! SO HURRY THE FUCK UP AND SAVE ME ALREADY! CHA!" Inner me menacingly roared and she waved her fists around.

Determined, I nodded, and whispered to myself, "Got it..."

She suddenly smirked and said, "HEH. THEN AGAIN... NOT SHARING A BODY SOUNDS PRETTY NICE..."

I frowned.

Holy crap. You really ARE becoming more evil by the second...

She chuckled.

"THAT'S RIGHT...

NOW...

LET'S GET THE FUCK TO SLEEP!

CHA!"

SIGH.

•*•*•The next morning•*•*•

The three of us were in the hotel lobby, now eating scrambled eggs with orange juice while sitting at this table, and we've been talking about all sorts of things for awhile now.

"This place is sure great and lively for my research!" Jiraiya exclaimed all perverted-like while grinning and he let out a mischievous chuckle. "All the ladies certainly love me here! Heehee!"

"Yeah right! I bet that you've never even kissed a woman before in your life, Pervy Sage!" Naruto accused and he pointed at him while chuckling a bit.

Appalled, Jiraiya's jaw dropped, and he slammed his fists down onto the table, now glaring at Naruto.

"DON'T BE RIDICULOUS! Of course I have! Do you even know who you are talking to, kid?!"

"Yeah. You're a pervert who writes complete crap-"

"SILENCE! WHAT I WRITE IS ART!" Jiraiya yelled somewhat dramatically and he then smirked wickedly at us and playfully asked, "I bet you two shared your first kiss with each other, didn't you?"

"..."

A depressing aura surrounded us, our faces now turning blue at the memory of that butt who stole our first kiss, and we both made an ugly face.

Jiraiya blinked, totally confused, and inquired, "What's with the long faces? Come on! Did you steal each other's lip virginity or not?"

My teammate and I both shook ours heads with annoyed expressions, indicating that our answer was no.

Jiraiya blinked even more in total confusion and asked, "Who was then?"

Faces turning even bluer, we then said our answer at the same time...

"Sasuke."

That was the one thing Naruto and I would have in common forever: Sasuke both stealing our first kiss.

Jiraiya's eyes grew enormous at our answer and he was now outrageously confused.

"Sasuke? You mean that kid who tried killing Itachi? He kissed you both?" he questioned us, very perplexed.

"Yeah but... FOR ME IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!" Naruto frantically declared while clenching his fist and he added with much disgust in his voice, "AND IT WAS ALSO THE GROSSEST THING THAT HAS EVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE IN MY LIFE! BELIEVE IT!"

Jiraiya chuckled and said sarcastically, "Sure it was..."

"I'M SERIOUS! DAMN IT!" Naruto roared and he slammed his fists on the table just like Jiraiya did moments ago.

Jiraiya then eyed me playfully and asked, "Was your first kiss with him an accident too, eh?"

I started blushing and my eyes grew wide.

"U-Uh. N-No. He just kissed me because he got jealous of Naruto, I guess..." I nervously clarified, my heart now hammering.

"Yeah. The bastard murdered my flowers for her..." Naruto bitterly grumbled and he started to angrily eat his scrambled eggs.

Jiraiya smirked and put a hand onto his chin. "Ahhh. So the rumor is true. Team 7 is one big love triangle after all, eh?"

Ours eyes grew SO wide.

"WHAT?! WHAT RUMOR?!" the two of us demanded.

My eyes were now fiery and I was twitching.

Damn you, Kakashi...

You just had to go and tell everyone about us.

YOU F-

The adult at our table then started chuckling and explained, "Yeah. People talk about you guys constantly like you're your own show. It's kind of funny. Haha! Sucks for you guys though but maybe you shouldn't do so many romantic things in public where a bunch of people could see..."

"Yeah...

PEOPLE LIKE YOU PERVY SAGE!" Naruto uproariously yelled while pointing at him and he was about to throw his glass of orange juice at him but the blond stopped himself from doing so.

I frowned.

Oh. That's right...

Kakashi didn't tell anybody.

I PRETTY MUCH DID!

...By confessing my love for my two teammates in public at the dance...

Or did people even know about us before that?

I blushed and made an ugly face, my right eye now twitching.

Why am I even thinking about this?

...

•*•*•A few hours later•*•*•

I've been training so intensely that my sweat was sweating, if that even makes sense, and Naruto was off training with Jiraiya somewhere nearby, I guess...

During my training, I was growing more and more frustrated with myself, thinking that all of my efforts weren't good enough, and my mind kept chanting that I would never be strong enough to protect the people that I love, not to mention that my curse mark kept on hurting me.

I was stressed out.

So, I decided to go ask Naruto if he wanted to spar with me, to test my abilities, and I was now looking for him.

After five minutes of searching, I finally found him alone, and he was grasping this red and yellow water balloon.

"Naruto! Please spar with me!" I requested in a stern tone and my eyes were fierce.

He gave me a look full of confusion. "Huh? Really? You want to spar with me, Sakura-chan? But... I don't want to hurt you-"

"I don't care! Please! I want you to spar with me and I don't want you to hold back!" I urgently yelled while frowning and my hands formed into fists. "Please. I need to get stronger..."

Naruto scratched his head, now chuckling a bit, and he quietly said, "Wow. You sure act nothing like Hinata but that's a good thing though. Haha."

I growled, now glaring at him.

Why is he even thinking of her?!

Naruto saw my upset expression and asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"CHA! THAT OBLIVIOUS IDIOT!" Inner me roared.

I shook my head and hastily said, "It's nothing. Now let's just spar."

"...Hey, wait a minute. Sasuke said at the dance that I made you cry. What did I do to upset you that night, Sakura-chan?" Naruto innocently inquired while rubbing the back of his head and his lips curved downwards, now frowning.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because...

YOU RATHER SPEND TIME WITH HINATA INSTEAD OF A WEIRDO WHO LOVES A BUTT AND AN IDIOT!" I tigerishly yelled, Inner me totally taking over without my permission, and my eyes were ferocious.

Naruto was startled by my sudden outburst, now looking kind of hurt, and his frown remained.

"You're not a weirdo..." he told me quietly.

"Yes I am!" I hotly insisted, my frustration only growing by the second, and tears fought to escape my eyes but I forced them to stay back with all my might.

What's wrong with me?

Is the darkness from my Inner Self getting to me or...?

...

"What's so damn great about Sasuke anyway...?" he then quietly asked, his voice bitter, and the blond crossed his arms.

Where the heck did that come from?!

"What's so great about Hinata?!" I fiercely retorted and my blood was now dangerously boiling.

Naruto flashed me a look full of confusion and said, "What? She's just a good friend..."

I growled once again, completely frustrated.

"Oh yeah?! Well, you don't leave your date for a half hour to comfort a crying friend! You didn't even look my way once!" I snapped, still forcing my watery eyes to restrain the tears.

My frustration only seemed to rub off on Naruto because he was now scowling and pure irritation could be seen in his sapphire eyes.

"I already told you that I don't see her in that way. I only have eyes for you!" he angrily told me and we were both now glaring at each other.

I rolled my eyes and huffed.

"We're supposed to be sparring..." I quietly reminded, trying to hold back my anger.

I've never been this angry with him before.

This is all new to me...

Naruto huffed himself. "Fine."

"Fine! Let's go already then! Don't hold back!" I impatiently said in a rash tone as he put away his water balloon and we started charging at each other.

I threw my fists at him and he blocked every one of my punches with his arms, making me even more frustrated. Naruto then grabbed my wrist, pulling me forward, but I quickly disengaged by quickly sending chakra to my feet, and jumped backwards, him instantly releasing me.

"Fight me with your shadow clones!" I then fiercely told him once I landed safely on my feet and he gave me a weird look.

"Why? That would totally be unfair-"

"Please! It's good practice! It will be okay!" I insisted, now trying to smile, but I still felt anger in my heart, and knowing that almost made me frown.

Naruto sighed, probably figuring that there was no use arguing with me any further, and he created about fifteen shadow clones, them now encircling me.

The clones lurched at me and I would either punch or kick them away while some would vanish into smoke.

Suddenly, when I wasn't looking, three clones had ambushed me from behind, tackling me to the ground. I vigorously struggled to escape while screaming for about three minutes but couldn't and tears of frustration began to leak out of my eyes, now feeling a surplus of mixed emotions.

Seeing my tears, all of the Naruto clones had then vanished in a poof of smoke, revealing only the real Naruto, who was now on top of me, pinning me to the ground.

He stared down at me with eyes full of sadness and asked, "Sakura-chan... Why are you crying?"

"I... I can't be this...this WEAK! I can't, I can't! I-I have to get stronger as f-fast as p-possible! If I d-don't... S-Sasuke will l-leave the v-village and-"

"I already told you before... I'll bring back Sasuke if he ever tries to leave, even if you love him more than me. That's a promise."

Naruto...

His voice sounded so soft but was filled with such insane determination, making me almost breathless...

Mouth agape, I stared up at him at a loss for words as my heart was wildly thundering in my chest, and...

...he kissed the living daylights out of me.

Author Note: Woohoo! First NaruSaku argument in this story! I hope you guys liked it! XD Sorry, but short chapter, but I hoped you guys liked it :3 You guys missing Sasuke yet or no? XD He's in a coma and so is Kakashi I think in this current time in the mY story because Itachi mind-raped them both XD tell me your thoughts. I shall be busy this weekend so I'll try to update when I can. Thank you all soooooooooooooooooooo much! Well, like I said, I'll try to update when I can, and please review, thank you!:D

Gaara: ... The pizza guy is at my door with a pizza but I don't have any money and I didn't even order any pizza... ...

Who did this to me...?

They will pay...

Literally...

Review