d y s p h o r i a

chapter two: the disappearing act


The sun shone through the windows as Sakura roused from sleep with a stretch. She got up slowly, balling her fists to rub her eyes and tousle the messy heap of her hair. She gave a yawn and pulled the covers off of her, swinging her legs to the side of the bed to get up.

She looked out the window and realized it was snowing. Must've started last night, she mused with little concern.

She trudged to the bathroom, hoping to get the sleep off of her eyes.


A loud knock from the front door made Mrs. Haruno leave the kitchen for a moment to see who it was. "Coming," she said as she wiped her hands on her apron. She opened the door, revealing a smiling Naruto.

"Oh. Good morning, Naruto," Mrs. Haruno greeted cheerfully. Naruto grinned at the older women in his trademark fashion and scratched the back of his head.

"G'morning, Haruno-san! Is Sakura-chan awake? Kakashi-sensei is planning on treating the team to some ramen and he says we can't have it if the team isn't complete," Naruto said and waited for the woman's answer.

"Well, I'll go and check on her. If she's awake, I'll send her down," Mrs. Haruno said with a smile. Naruto thank her and she called out to Sakura.

"Sakura," she yelled, cupping her mouth with a hand. "Your friends are here to see you!"

Sakura coughed. Surprised was she by her mother's unexpected call that she almost choked on her toothpaste as she brushed. She quickly finished her task and yelled back – "Coming!" She dressed in winter wear as fast as she could and went down stairs to be greeted by Naruto.

"Hi, Sakura-chan," he said with a happy grin. "How're you today?" He, however, didn't let her answer the question and proceeded in telling her about the free ramen. Sakura, slightly irked by Naruto's rudeness, stayed silent for a while so she increased Naruto's increasing excitement and impatience.

"Sakura-chaaan!" He groaned.

"Alright, alright," she said to him with a smile. "Let's get going then."

They went out the door and were greeted (well, not really) by the team 7's prodigy – Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura contemplated on staying since she felt slightly uncomfortable, but found that it would be a selfish act – especially since Naruto took such delight in the ramen. She greeted him with a smile and nod.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," she said politely. He nodded in reply. Sakura felt like her words yesterday didn't seem to even impact on him in the slightest. She felt a little disappointed.

They walked to the Ichiraku, the ramen bar that they were to meet Kakashi-sensei. The snow crunched beneath their feet. Finally, Naruto decided to break the silence.

"Oi, Sasuke," he said with arms behind his head and his eyes merely slits. He looks like a cat, Sakura thought.

"What?" Sasuke replied, though not giving any eye contact but continued to stare straight ahead in his usual manner.

"Why are you so cold?" Naruto asked curiously.

"Because it's winter, dope. What do you expect?" Sasuke replied, purposely mistaking the question so aggravate Naruto. Just as he expected, Naruto gave an annoyed grunt.

"No! I mean, why are you… human-ice-cubeish?" Sasuke twitched. What the hell? He thought with annoyance. He turned to look at Naruto, glaring at him.

"Why are you so stupid?" Sasuke asked. Naruto blinked then glared.

"Eh! I'm not stupid!" Sasuke made a noise from the back of his throat.

Great, Sakura thought. Another argument. She suddenly thought of a way to distract the two. "Hey. Naruto, Sasuke-kun, wanna race to the ramen house?" she challenged. The two males stopped their bickering and looked at her. Naruto gave a happy grin.

"Only if Sakura-chan lets me carry her," he said. Sasuke eyes darkened considerably, but then Sakura's words yesterday caused him to control himself out of pride.

"Hai, hai," she said to Naruto, desperate to do anything to stop their fighting, "I'll let you carry me." Naruto gave a whoop of delight and carried Sakura bridal-style.

"Keh. Better chance for me," Sasuke muttered.

Sakura gave the signal then the two were off. Right now, Naruto didn't care about winning; he just wanted Sakura in his arms for as long as possible.


When they reached the ramen house, Naruto let Sakura down and thanked her. Sakura smiled and Sasuke fumed. He won the race, but it somehow felt like he lost.

Kakashi-sensei was on one of the stools reading his novel. He looked at the three and greeted them.

"Hello, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura," he said regarding them all equally. Naruto grinned.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei," he said with a mischievous smile. "Can we order our ramens now?" Kakashi nodded in affirmative and Naruto quickly set himself on a stool, ordering the ramen with fervor. Sasuke and Sakura did the same, though with considerably less energy.

Sakura contented herself with eating the ramen, and listening to Kakashi-sensei and Naruto talk.

"Ne, ne… Kakashi-sensei, you always … giggle when you're reading that book. Is it funny?" Naruto asked with an excited tone, noodles in his mouth. Kakashi nodded, not taking his eyes away from the book.

"Hai, hai. Very funny," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

"Can I see?"

"No."

"Ehhhh! Why not!"

Sakura finished her ramen and got up. She remembered that Hinata asked her to give a gift to Naruto last week. She completely forgot about it! Feeling guilty, she excused herself saying that she needed to go back home to fetch something for Naruto. Once Sakura was out of earshot, Naruto grinned widely.

"Ne, Sasuke, I think Sakura-chan likes me better now," he said with a grin to the boy beside him. Sasuke glared and turned away. It's probably true anyway, he thought. He did miss all her gifts for him.

Sakura ran to her home, guilt-ridden about the whole issue. Suddenly, she felt herself hit something and she gasped as her breath almost left her lungs. She regained herself and said, "Ah, sorry! I wasn't loo—Sasuke?" She caught her breath as the man in front of her looked exactly liked Sasuke, except taller and had peculiar lines under his eyes.

The man shook his head, and Sakura found that she couldn't stop staring. The man stared at her with eyes that looked like they could see right through her and said, "Who are you?"

Sakura quickly regained herself and replied, trying to sound polite and not surprised, "Sakura. Haruno Sakura. Nice to meet you!" She cringed. Her voice sounded much higher than usual. "Uhm, if you don't mind my asking, who are you?"

"That's irrelevant," he said. "However, you know Sasuke?" Sakura nodded. "Do you know where he is?" At that point, Sakura started to feel uncomfortable. The streets were pretty empty, so she had no choice but to say the truth. She nodded. The man in front of her smirked.

Sasuke felt the hair on the back of his neck stand erect. Something feels wrong, he thought. He got up from the stool, ignoring Naruto's question on why he was leaving. He quickly ran to Sakura's house, fearing for the worst. On the way, he noticed a pink-haired girl standing with a man in a black coat.

Itachi

He ran as fast as he could, but tripped due to the snow. When he got up, nobody was there. Regaining his senses, he started to run once more.


Author's Notes: So, yeah. That's the revised version of chapter two. Hoped you enoyed it.