No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. NO.

This CAN'T be happening!

What's happening? Well...

Countless of questions kept haunting my mind as if they were freaking zombies on a never ending hunt to eat human brains ever since Naruto kissed me yesterday.

Questions such as...

Do I love Sasuke more than Naruto?

Do I love Naruto more than Sasuke?

Do I love them both the same?

Does my heart just constantly play tricks on me to piss me off? Probably yes. CRAP.

...

Erm. Anyways...

I avoided all of those scary questions by forcing myself to go to sleep the day Naruto had kissed me and might I add that the way he slammed his lips onto mine was very aggressive but very...

...hot.

OKAY I'LL STOP NOW!

See?! THIS is what happens when I don't watch Boy Toasty for a few days!

There is no balance so my mind goes FULL PERVERT!

...

Wow. I got issues. Sorry. Um...

So, the result of trying to avoid all of those weirdo questions, had leaded my mind into having a very ghastly dream once in full slumber, and OH MY GOSH IT SCARRED ME FOR LIFE!

Believe it! FREAKING BELIEVE IT!

Okay. Here is what happened.

•*•*•In my dream•*•*•

Sasuke and I were sitting on my bed, playing...

...Tic-Tac-Toe?

WHAT?!

I can't picture me playing THAT with him!

Okay. This dream is officially crazy.

...Anyway.

With an annoyed expression, he stared down at my notebook that displayed our game, and quietly muttered...

"You suck at this."

Mouth instantly gaping, I let out a loud but dramatic gasp while pointing at him, and my cheeks turned a bright pink just like my lungs, thinking that it should be a crime for such a butt to be so hot.

Wait. WHAT?!

THE HECK AM I THINKING?!

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

"Wha-What?! Well you suck at it TOO! YOU BUTT-"

Yes. The door suddenly opened and there was...

Itachi.

NO. Just NO. Oh gosh NO.

Eyes growing wide, my body tensed, and I prepared myself for the worst.

I then noticed that Itachi was holding a tray of two teacups with tea in them (well obviously) and he looked rather mellow, now making me swim in a very big pond of confusion.

"Hello Sasuke. I brought you two your tea..." Itachi serenely announced and he put the tray on top of a dresser that was near my bed, making me flinch.

OH MY GOSH DID HE POISON THE TEA?!

"Thanks Brother..." Sasuke muttered and he then looked away, trying to avoid Itachi's gaze.

I twitched and stole brief glances from the two multiple times, freaking the heck out.

"B-But... Y-You... H-He... D-Don't... Don't you want to kill him?!" I frantically asked Sasuke with my eyes being freakishly wide and I pointed at his older brother, who was now staring down at us with much indifference.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow, almost seeming like he was glaring at me or something.

"Idiot. What are you talking about?" my teammate asked annoyed.

"B-But... Itachi... H-He... He-"

I got cut off when Itachi gripped my shoulder from behind and we then locked eyes, his mysterious ones boring into mine.

"Don't worry... As his older brother, I already approve of you."

After that was said, Itachi's monotone voice of him saying "I approve" was then heard about a million times, even echoing throughout the room, and I covered my ears, very tempted to scream my lungs out in total fear.

Suddenly, Sasuke took my hands and removed them from my ears, the two of us now locking eyes.

His trembling eyes were fierce as he looked at me and the butt was tightly holding onto my wrists, making my heart hammer.

"Sakura... Will you marry me...?"

•*•*•End of dream•*•*•

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Yeah. Once that dream had ended, I quickly sat up in my tiny bed on the floor, and started hysterically screaming, immediately awakening my two companions.

Before the two could even question me, I quickly darted over to the hotel fridge while still screaming like they do in the horror movies, and retrieved a carton of strawberry ice cream. I sat down, my back now leaning against the fridge, and began to savagely eat the ice cream with my fingers.

Wow. I didn't even know there was ice cream in there...

Um. Anyways...

Yes. Gross. I know...

Why the heck was I doing this?

Well, first off...

MY CHEEKS FELT LIKE THEY WERE ON FIRE BECAUSE I WAS BLUSHING SO FRIGGING MUCH!

...So I needed to cool them down...

Second off...

THIS:

'Sakura... Will you marry me...?'

WOULDN'T STOP REPLAYING IN HEAD!

...

So, I relied on the sweetness of the ice cream to make me forget those oh so horrible words, BUT...

...I still remembered.

SHUDDER.

And lastly...

I LOVE ICE CREAM!

"CHA! DAMN RIGHT!" Inner me agreed and she punched the air many times as usual.

Why...

Why was I having such an insane dream like THAT?!

Sasuke would NEVER propose to me like THAT!

...Would he?

...

WAH! THANK GOODNESS THAT WAS JUST A DREAM!

...I don't know how I would really react if that was real...

Knowing me though, I actually WOULD start screaming, and I probably would run away too.

I mean...GEEZ! I'm only THIRTEEN!

THE HECK?!

Why the heck would I dream of that though?

...Is my subconscious trying to secretly tell me something...?

...

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!

OH GOSH!

I DON'T want to marry that BUTT!

NO WAY. NO WAY. NO WAY.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!

And...

And why was Itachi acting SO weird in my dream?!

Oh gosh. Now that I remember it...

'Don't worry... As his older brother, I already approve of you."

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Th-That was the freaking last that Itachi ever said to ME!

He approves...

...

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!

Wh-What... What did he mean by THAT?!

I started blushing at all of the possibilities...

GAH! MY FREAKING HEART WON'T STOP RACING!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"Uh Sakura-chan... You okay...?" Naruto asked awkwardly and I mean VERY awkwardly...

The two of them were now sitting up and were staring at me in absolute bewilderment.

I then realized that my entire body was wildly shaking as I twitched and it probably looked like foam was about to erupt out of my mouth at any moment now or something.

Oh gosh. Even my pupils were dilated!

WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!

"Uh yeah... Sounds like a pretty gruesome nightmare. What happened?" Jiraiya asked a little cautiously and he tried grinning but failed at that by only giving me an awkward grin.

I twitched even more and my cheeks grew rosier.

DARN YOU SASUKE!

"N-Nothing."

•*•*•One week later•*•*•

Yep. It's been one week and I've been brutally training all solo like while Naruto and Jiraiya have been training together I suppose.

Jiraiya, Naruto, and I have barely spoken with each other because we've been so engrossed with our training and the only time that we have really ever talked is whenever the three of us ate breakfast in the morning.

Naruto has been training so hard that his hands would even tremble in his sleep every night and this would also kind of worry me. Not to mention that it was also a little awkward between us because of the way we fought and how aggressively he kissed me last week.

The memory of Naruto kissing me would constantly flash throughout my mind and I would automatically blush, my heart fluttering every time too.

He said that he would bring back Sasuke even if I love Sasuke more than him...

Naruto really loves me.

Honestly, I couldn't stop thinking about the kiss and him. It was literally driving my emotions on a wild stampede in my mind, flattening my heart like a roller would dough.

The fight... That kiss... His words...

All made me think...too much.

It really scares me.

Seriously.

And most of the time my thoughts were really depressive too...

Oh yeah. During this week, Jiraiya informed me that Sasuke just wasn't being hospitalized but he was also in a coma being secured by a Genjutsu, and so was Kakashi, I think.

Apparently, Kakashi had fought with Itachi too before us. Go figure.

Back to what I was saying...

I just hope that the both of them will be okay and that they will recover soon.

Sasuke...

Please hang in there.

...

Also, I've been perfecting the technique where I combine my power with Inner me's, and the visible pink chakra has seemed to increase in size around my fist, appearing even more livelier looking.

However...

Everyday during this week, my Inner Self has seemed to act more rashly, more rudely. Inner me even scared me a bit when she began to talk about wanting to see blood being shed and also how she wanted to tear people from limb to limb.

Yup. It was creepy.

Anyways...

It was now almost midnight and I've been out training in my usual training spot for about eight hours and my body was even shaking from the intense work out I put it through, totally exhausted.

"Snake... Sheep... Monkey... Boar... Horse... Tiger..." I shakily whispered under my breath while simultaneously performing the proper hand signs and I distributed chakra to the right portions of my body. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Yep. I blew so hard as if I was trying to blow out one of those annoying trick candles that seem to never go out and a medium sized fireball erupted in midair, appearing a little bigger than the last time that I tried this technique before.

A small grin slowly spread across my lips in satisfaction at the very little progress I had made and I was kind of disappointed at not being able to draw out more fire but hey...it was way better than no improvement at all and now I'm just happy at that fact that I'm getting better with this technique.

OH! I should totally ask Naruto if he can teach me on how to make shadow clones! That would be so awesome!

HEEHEE.

Out of no where, darkness began to gradually cloud my eyes as I started to feel light-headed, now shaking even more, and my body almost collapsed to the ground but I forced myself up.

Crap. I've used up too much chakra and now my poor body is paying for it. I need to get back to the hotel before anything strange happens-

As soon as I thought that, three kunais with explosive tags attached to them had made their landing a few inches away from me on the ground, and I flinched, totally alarmed.

Crap. Crap. CRAP.

...

Wow. I really like to jinx myself, don't I?

Before the explosive tags went off, I instinctively ran deeper into the forest at a brisk pace, forcing my legs to move even though they were killing me, and after about three seconds, I finally heard the explosion tags go off from behind but it was weird because they were very mini explosions.

Who the heck is trying to attack me at this time of night anyway?!

Then again...

They are rather smart for attacking me now since I've just worn myself out from training. I guess they've been watching and waiting for me to be at my weakest...but why?

Okay. This is all too weird.

Before I could even steal a glance from behind, a figure dressed in all dark blue abruptly appeared in front of me at an instant, and the only seeable thing on his body was his red eyes, looking exactly like the Sharingan.

My body jumped in total surprise and I then braced myself now, eyes now fierce.

"Who... Who are you?!" I demanded a little shakily and my hands quickly formed into fists.

"I'm from your future and I've been assigned to assassinate you, to kill you..." he sternly replied and his fierce eyes bored into mine.

My eyes grew insanely wide and that voice of his was so dangerously familiar but I couldn't think of who it belonged to. How weird...

"W-What?! Why...Why have you been assigned to kill me?! What for?!" I frantically interrogated and then bit my lip, thinking that I already knew all of the answers to my questions.

"Inside of you lurks one of the most greatest evils in this world and once it fully took over you, all hell let loose. You've killed people with just your bare hands. People from our village, your friends, your comrades... Half of our village was wiped out in less than five minutes by you once that thing fully took over and it only got worse from there..." he explained in a dead-serious tone and horror immediately filled my trembling eyes. "I've been ordered to go back into the past to prevent all of those future deaths and destruction on our village from ever happening, so here I am."

It can't... can't be.

That really can't be my future, could it...?

...

Well, I'm not going to let that happen!

"W-Wait! But wait... I've been trying to find some way to resolve her from ever taking over me! Maybe I can find a way to remove the curse mark or find the person who extracted her from me in time or-"

"Idiot. I've already tried going back in time to try to stop Orochimaru from ever biting you but the device I've been using only let's me go back so far and this is my last chance. And your extractor ends up dead right after your extraction. The Extraction Jutsu ate up all of his life force and he practically sacrificed himself to save you but it didn't do much good in my opinion. Your second soul became human and fled, still living on somewhere... While you...

You...

Are ordered to be hospitalized for the rest of your life and you pretty much become the same as a walking corpse after the extraction. Your eyes were lifeless and you would just stare aimlessly at things, saying almost absolutely nothing. The extraction took a pretty rough toll on your body, eating away most of your life force, and you couldn't remember anything. Not even... M-Me..."

I gasped once seeing that his eyes were growing watery but he then quickly shook his head and intently stared at me with fierce eyes.

He continued to talk...

"So that's why I rather see the person that I love die pure then to be fully consumed by darkness. Once that thing takes over you, you DIE and it LIVES!

I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN AGAIN!"

Suddenly, he performed some hand signs so fast that it almost seemed like his hands had disappeared for a brief moment, and he then firmly grasped his right wrist with his left hand, now gathering chakra.

Lighting was gradually engulfing his right hand and at that moment, I knew who he was...

...Sasuke.

Sasuke from the future was trying to... to kill me.

I just stood there frozen with my mouth hanging open in complete shock, my heart now going into my stomach.

This Sasuke wasn't as tall as the stripper; he was a little taller than me. I'm guessing he was still around the same age as me and that he's come from the future a few months from now...

I could feel my heart shatter into tiny pieces, feeling indescribable hurt, but I understood his reasoning...

He didn't want to see me all lifeless like that after the extraction and me not being able to remember anything or him, was killing him on the inside...

Sasuke wants me to die as myself.

But I don't want to die yet; I know there has got to be some way around this.

Getting my Inner Self extracted from me is now not an option anymore because I don't want anyone sacrificing themselves to save me or the village and it's also because I want to save Inner me and because...

...I don't want Sasuke to suffer, like how the one standing in front of me is now.

I have to somehow remove this curse mark before she fully takes over.

...Am I selfish for thinking this though?

"S-Sasuke..." I tried saying, my voice cracking, and it wildly quivered in fear. "Y-You... You don't need to do this. I-"

"YOU KILLED NARUTO, SAKURA!" Sasuke abruptly yelled while sounding totally panic stricken, making my pupils constrict as I gasped, totally horrified, and he then explained, "His last words were, 'Please save Sakura-chan...' Your Inner Self took so many lives, including yours. Like I said before, once she takes over you, your soul is as good as dead. You might have lived on after the extraction but it was your body that lived on, not you. Not your mind... She even almost took my life but I managed to get away. She'll have total control over you on July 23rd..."

July 23rd?

Why... Why does that date seem so familiar, so important...?

Before I could even reply, he finally finished gathering up chakra for his Chidori, and charged towards me at the speed of light.

In a flash, he had me pinned against a tree by restraining my wrists together with his free hand, and his other hand containing the Chidori remained a few inches away from me, now trembling.

He was hesitating.

The current position we were in was also the exact same one from when we last sparred together...

Irony, huh?

For a few seconds, Sasuke glared at me with his venomous red eyes while scowling, and then his Chidori slowly subsided.

He then looked down, avoiding my gaze, and released his grip on me.

The Uchiha tightly clenched his fists and his whole body was trembling.

"I can't... I can't kill you..." Sasuke shakily whispered while he still refused to look at me and I could tell that he was forcing himself not to cry.

I frowned and my eyes wildly trembled.

Sasuke...

He then punched the tree bark that was right besides my head in frustration, even causing a mini crater, and said under his breath, "Damn!"

Mouth agape, I just stared at him while being astoundingly stunned, and millions of mixed emotions coursed through me.

"Damn it! I screwed this up too!" Sasuke yelled very irritated and he really was trying not to cry. "Time is running out... This was my only chance to-"

Suddenly, a neon-green light began to slowly envelope him, making both of our eyes wide.

"Sakura! There's something that I've never told you before. I've always been in lov..."

But before he could even finish his sentence, the lime light had fully consumed him, making him vanish, and green glowing sparkles swayed with the rash wind, brushing against my skin.

Silence.

I slowly fell to my knees with a dumbfounded expression and then looked down at the locket that Sasuke had given to me, it now being in the palm of my hand.

I was still wearing it.

At that moment, I realized that July 23rd was...

...Sasuke's birthday.

•*•*•One week later•*•*•

I've been very distant with my two companions and was almost as quiet as a mime. I felt so alone and didn't know what to think. My thoughts seemed to be the only thing that was keeping me company and that wasn't necessarily good either. It was even hard to look Naruto in the eyes and I literally forced myself not to cry too. Well, at least, not cry in front of anyone...

During this entire week, I've been silently crying myself to sleep, and no one has seemed to notice. It's bad for my health to bottle up all of my emotions so I just let it all out at night and just secretly cry while looking up at the moon through the window, which made my thoughts wildly roam like lost children would.

Like I mentioned before, it was hard to look Naruto in the eyes...

I just can't get over the fact that in the future my Inner Self would kill him with MY body and she even tried to kill Sasuke too. She killed a lot of people according to Sasuke. Well, I mean the Sasuke from the future...

...

It breaks my heart and I don't know what to do. This sadness I'm feeling is never ending and I even have trouble focusing when training too.

I would say that my heart is breaking but everything in my body feels like it's breaking and it's really making me not feel sane at all. Nothing feels right and I want to tell somebody, just anybody about what I'm going through, but I don't know how, and I don't know if I even should...

Honestly, I don't want anyone worrying, but...

...I have to remove this mark as soon as possible.

If not, then like I said before, I will take away my life the day before Sasuke's Birthday...

I have no choice.

Geez, turning evil on his Birthday is one ugly present for him.

SIGH.

I don't want to bring anyone suffering though, especially Sasuke...

There was such torment in his red eyes even though I only saw them for brief moments but it was so intense.

...I'm talking about the future Sasuke, of course.

Um. Anyways...

I also don't want any lives to be lost because of me, because of my mere existence...

Especially Naruto's.

Oh gosh. Automatic tears always began to well up in my eyes whenever I pictured myself doing that, which would happen a lot, but I would hide it around my two companions if I was near them.

This week has been a brutal one for me and I've been even hesitant during training.

If I get stronger, then does the evil that's locked away from within me get stronger as well?

GAH! I DON'T KNOW IF I SHOULD TRAIN OR NOT!

...

I guess I should be still training for the time being though and also should be focusing on the problems that are currently happening.

For example, I have to try to protect Naruto from the Akatsuki and also have to try to stop Sasuke from leaving the village no matter what...

Okay. I guess I still should train after all and try my best.

For them...

Sasuke and Naruto.

...

Right now, the sun was setting, and I was sitting on this hill while hugging my knees, admiring the beautiful view of the town that the three of us were all currently staying at from below.

My lime colored eyes were so sadly gloomy and I've never felt so alone, so empty...

I then heard a voice...

"You came here too, huh?"

Still hugging my knees, I innocently looked to my left, instantly seeing Naruto, and he calmly sat down besides me, the two of us now looking at the colorful sunset.

"O-Oh. Yeah..." I shyly mumbled while looking down and my heart began to dangerously race, which made me hug my knees even tighter.

There was a long moment of silence before Naruto finally said, "Sakura... I know that you know about the Nine Tails..."

Alarmed, I immediately looked at him with innocent eyes, and quickly whispered under my breath, "H-Huh?"

How did he know?!

"Jiraiya told me that he sensed you were awake that one time when him and I were talking about the Nine Tails..." Naruto quietly explained without looking at me, his eyes calm but they also looked so sad, and he continued to stare at the captivating sunset. "Is that why you have been avoiding me, Sakura-chan...?"

Guilt hit me like a brutal gust of arctic wind as my mouth opened somewhat and I widened my eyes, panic now entering me.

This entire time he thought that I was avoiding him because of the demon fox locked inside him?!

Oh gosh. Poor Naruto!

That's not the reason at ALL!

My heart was now aching, screaming...

How long has he been hurting like this...?

"W-What?! No! Not at all! Really! It's not like that at all!" I frantically protested while frowning and my eyes wildly trembled, the two of us now locking eyes. "I didn't want to tell you that I knew because I didn't want you to worry about what I thought and honestly...I don't care if you have that fox inside you.

You're still the same Naruto to me and you always will be."

A soft smile gradually formed on my lips and Naruto looked at me, completely astounded.

The wind and leafs rushed through us...

With a tiny grin, Naruto looked down, and said in a hushed tone, "Thanks Sakura-chan..."

Sadness still lurked in his eyes and this made me frown.

"Also, sorry about kissing you last week..." Naruto quietly apologized, his eyes still refusing to meet mine, and he added, "I just... was angry."

"No, no! It's okay! I'm sorry too..." I apologized as well while blushing a bit and that upside down smile still remained on my lips. "I was being a butt and you didn't deserve that. I'm sorry..."

"No. Don't be. I was being a jerk..." Naruto insisted, his calm voice soothing me.

"Whaaaaaaa? But you're never a jerk!" I exclaimed all frantic like and then a small smile made it's way on my lips. "So don't say that, silly!"

He let out a soft chuckle and I giggled.

"Heh. Okay..." Naruto mumbled and he then looked at me with a playful grin, trying not to chuckle . "It's funny, cuz I was actually going to bring you to this very same spot to watch the sunset with you, but you were already here. So everything worked out in the end. Haha."

He let out a sheepish laugh while rubbing the back of his head and I stared at him totally dumbstruck, my cheeks now burning of pink.

"R-Really...?" I shyly asked and my heart began to violently pound, now feeling little butterflies fly around in my tummy.

Naruto laughed. "Haha. Yeah. I was actually freaking out because I couldn't find you anywhere but I totally lucked out when I found you here! Haha!"

I joined in with his laughter. "Yeah, that sure is some luck! Heehee. Can I steal some from you?"

He clenched his fist and excitedly said, "Heck yeah! ...But I don't know how you would do that, Sakura-chan."

I giggled. "Oh well! All of the luck in the world couldn't help me anyways..."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in suspicion as I then let out a dramatic gasp once realizing what I had just said and I covered my mouth, fear now seizing me.

Oh gosh. Oh CRAP. I'm screwed.

This sucks.

MEH.

"What do you mean? What's wrong...?" Naruto cautiously asked and his eyes were freaking scrutinizing me like an ace detective would. "Are you talking about Sasuke or-"

"N-No! I-I... I mean... I just wish I was more lucky when it comes to training..." I nervously lied without looking at him and my lips curved downwards, hating myself for lying to him. "I just wish I could be way stronger... Like you and Sasuke."

I then flashed him a fake smile and he seemed to believe my lousy lie.

It breaks my heart but I just can't tell him about the evil concealed from within me.

I just... can't.

Naruto faked a smile himself and said, "Oh okay... Well, nothing wrong with that! Haha."

There was then a long awkward silence and the two of us just stared at the sunset for a few moments, not knowing what to say.

"Sakura... What did you think when... When you first found out about what was inside of me...?" Naruto asked with much hesitance in his voice and he wouldn't look at me, for his sad eyes were still glued to the sunset.

"...I felt like crying because...you silently went through all of that pain...alone..." I softly answered in a whisper while looking down at my lap and my heart was aching, almost breaking. "And I would have given anything to take away your pain back then, even now. I still do..."

Shock filled his face for a brief second and a heartfelt smile could then be seen on his lips.

"Sakura... Just being with you takes away my pain..." Naruto abruptly admitted, his smile growing, and we locked eyes. "And no one in this world can take away my pain like you do."

I stared at him in absolute shock, his sweet words making my heart crazily flutter on the spot, and the rosiness in my cheeks never made it's exit.

The wind hugged us.

Still smiling a bit, Naruto then looked down, his eyes lightly tinged with pain, and he began to talk...

"Growing up, I never knew what it felt like to be loved, but I wanted to be so badly. People would always look at me with eyes full of pure hatred and rage. I thought something was wrong with me but couldn't figure out what it was. No one would ever talk to me, no matter how hard I tried. I would smile and say all the nicest things, but they still all rejected me and would do everything in their power to ruin my day even more, causing me more pain. I never had anyone that I could talk with or ever come home to. Everyday was a battle. It was hard to eat, to sleep, and to even breath. I constantly questioned my existence and wondered why I was still even here in this harsh world. Everyone either ignored or said cruel things to me... So, instead of crying, I sucked it up, and smiled, not giving those bastards the satisfaction at seeing me miserable. I started to pull pranks on the villagers to get their attention, to numb the pain, to hide it, but doing that just made them hate me even more. It was so hard... You already know this, but I get hate letters and death threats posted on my door everyday. I don't read them anymore though...

In the academy, I was constantly made fun of even when I tried best, but I hid my pain by telling jokes, by becoming the class clown. I had trouble paying attention in class and with getting good grades but I trained my heart out. I wanted to become Hokage so people would finally respect me, so that they would think that I was finally someone important in this world. I wanted to protect everyone and also wanted them to look up to me, to know who Naruto Uzumaki really was.

That's my dream..."

I was aghast the entire time when he was revealing his gruesome past and in many ways, I felt like I could relate to him...

With a frown, I looked down, and now I was the one talking...

"Naruto... I always admired that dream of yours and I'm so sorry that you had to go through all of that but you don't need people to tell you that you're important in this world because you've ALWAYS been important.

Also...

I think I can relate... Even now, people still treat me with much disrespect and disgust. I got bullied so much when I was little, no matter where I went. People would always pick on me because of my massive forehead and because of my pink hair and also because I was so shy and so timid and just for being...me! I don't know. I guess...

I always felt so alone and so scared and just so...hated. It hurt so bad. I had parents but they didn't understand what I was going through and they would just constantly urge me to fight back but I couldn't do that! I was too scared... I-"

I stopped talking once realizing that tears were now flowing down my face, making me inwardly gasp, and with a smile, Naruto gently wiped them away.

He began to talk, his voice so soothingly serene...

"You know, Sakura... Before, I would have given anything to be anyone else, to not feel all of that pain, to not feel all of that loneliness... to finally be loved.

But now... I wouldn't give anything to be anyone else.

Going through all of that pain eventually lead me to meeting you and it was all worth it.

I wouldn't change a thing.

When I saw you for the first time and also saw that those girls were picking on you, I couldn't believe it. Call me crazy, but it looked like they were trying to harm an angel, and knowing me, I couldn't let that happen. I was surprised that you actually talked to me right after I saved you and I thought you looked even way cuter when close up, but anyways... I thought you were just saying your thanks and that you would just conform like everyone else and hate me.

But you didn't...

You came into my life and actually wanted to get to know me when no one else did. For the first time ever, someone wanted to be my friend. I was finally able to feel happiness, all because of you... Despite this though, I would constantly fear that you would someday end up hating me like the others did and every moment I had with you, I was so thankful for. The fear of you ever hating me grew stronger and stronger with each day though...

But...

There was that one time...

Where I had just met you and I was walking you home while we talked.

...Remember?

I was beyhond happy. I always am when I'm with you...

Erm. Anyways...

When we finally approached your home, your Mom came out, and was so angry when she saw you with me. She then slapped you across the face and scolded you for hanging around me. You got hurt, all because of me...

At that point, I thought it was all over, so I just decided to do you a favor by walking away, preparing myself to never talk to you ever again.

I cried so much that night.

My happiness was so easily shattered in less than seconds and I started to wonder if I was freaking forbidden to ever be happy or something...

I thought you were never going to talk to me again.

But...

You did.

You actually talked to me the next day and even tried getting to know me when you fully knew that your Mom didn't want you to.

Do...

Do you know how happy that made me...?

To know that for once in my life that someone actually cared about me for real...

To finally know what being loved felt like...

I...

I love you, Sakura-chan.

Thank you..."

My eyes grew wide once I saw that there was tears in his big beautiful blue eyes as they were full of pure anguish and without even thinking, I tightly hugged him with all of my might while...

...trying to ignore the insane sensation of my heart almost beating out of my chest.

Author Note: Awe. This almost made me cry :'( Damn. Now I really don't know who I'm going to pick! XD The couple is still undecided! So... Did you guys like Sakura's crazy dream about Sasuke and Itachi? XD Tell me your thoughts about this chapter! Pretty, pretty PLEASE! :D And sorry for the late update, been busy. Well, I shall update when I can, and please review!(:

THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

LOVE YOU!

Gaara: Let the sand be with you...

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