Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Naruto or any
of the manga series' characters.
Summary: Takes place a few years in the
future. Sakura is contemplating her life and friends. She is shocked to
discover that Sasuke is pursuing Ino. Sakura falls into a deep depression and
turns to controversial ways of dealing with it.
Author Notes: Well, here we go! Time
for Chapter two. Oh and anything in [ ] means the characters thoughts!
The morning sun had just begun to rise, splashing the sky with deep oranges and red. Sakura dragged herself to the bathroom and had looked at her reflection. It was her 17 birthday and she hadn't slept. The meth had kept her up but she didn't care. Her eyes were somewhat puffy and red, her skin was pale and there were dark circles present under her eyes. "Nothing a little bit of concealer and visine won't hide" She thought to herself. She washed her face and brushed her teeth, applied the make-up that was needed to make her look rested and looked over at her nightstand. Sakura stood there contemplating for a quick moment, and then walked over to the mahogany nightstand, opened the drawer and reached for the little bag of white crystals. She took her house key and prodded the inside of the little bag until she had a small mound of crystals on the metal. Carefully she took it out of the bag and brought the key to her nose, inhaling sharply she railed her bump and sniffled a little bit. "Just a pick me up" she told herself. She quickly stashed the drugs in her bra and went to her closet to pick out her clothes.
Sakura looked over her clothes; everything she used to wear was so conservative. Not that she minded, but sometimes when she went shopping she would splurge and buy clothes that normally she would be too modest to wear. Feeling bold, she decided to wear her black mesh shirt (just like Anko's) and her black skirt with red trim. The two slits on either side did rise up a little high, so she threw on her black shorts as well. Thinking it still might be a little chilly when she went for her morning walk, Sakura decided to put on her Denim jacket that came down to mid thigh and tied around her waist. She carefully put her forehead protector on as a headband, with some difficulty because her hands were shaking. Running her fingers through her silky hair, she grabbed her keys and headed out the door.Her morning walk had been a pleasant one. She
had now made it an every day ritual to come outside in the early morning to
clear her mind. Off in the distance she could hear a few birds chirping and
calling for each other. The sound brought a faint smile to her face, something
that had been a difficult task to do these days. She walked down past the
bridge where she and her teammates would greet an extremely late Kakashi, past
the ramen shop, and ended up down by a lonely group of Cherry Trees. They were
in full blossom and their soft pink petals serenaded the ground as they fell
gently from the beautiful trees. Sakura sank down to the ground and leaned
against one of the trees, tipping her head back and closing her eyes, she
exhaled deeply as memories of the previous night flooded her mind. The immense
pain she felt in her heart and the tears that she shed. With a heavy sigh she
opened her eyes only to be extremely startled when she found a pair of eyes
staring back at her. "AhhhH!...Kakashi-sensei...gomenasi, you scared me" Sakura
yelled, feeling embarrassed.
"Now now Sakura, you no longer need to call me Sensei. You're a
Chuunin yourself" Kakashi smiled " I'm sorry for startling you" The tall,
handsome, silver haired jounin extended his hand towards her and she accepted.
He pulled her up with ease and Sakura smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt.
"What brings you here so early in the morning?" asked Kakashi. Sakura looked up
at her former teacher and almost laughed " I could ask you the same thing
sensei" that won her a smile and she continued " from what I remember, you were
the one who was always 3 hours late, ever so intrigued by your Icha Icha
Paradise"
"ahhh…yes, that haha" Kakashi laughed nervously and blushed. [Thank god for
this mask!] "Anyways Sakura, I spotted you sitting here and you looked a little
perplexed, is everything alright?"
"Oh I'm fine sensei, I just couldn't sleep" She answered a little too quickly
and then added "I was just excited because I'm 17 today"
[pheew...that was really close]
Kakashi looked down at his student
as his right arm reached for his forehead protector. He lifted it up above his
forehead to expose his sharingan eye and shot a genuine smile at the pink
haired girl standing in front of him. Sakura was taken aback by his action and
gave her teacher a confused look. "Why..." she began and Kakashi interrupted
"Sakura"
"hai sensei?" Sakura answered.
"I don't mean this to come out the wrong way, but have you lost some weight?" he asked concerned.
"eehh...no, no I haven't sir. I think you are just imagining things." Sakura stammered as she forced a laugh [I hope he doesn't suspect anything]
Later that day…
It was already noon and the sun was shining brightly. The heat was so intense that Sakura opted to take off her jacket. What seemed to be a quiet Konoha village just a few hours earlier was now a busy, hectic town. The hustle and bustle of things made Sakura want to go home and sleep, but she decided it would be a bad idea to just disappear on her birthday no less. As she slowly walked down past the flower shop, she stopped and turned around. Wisps of cherry hair flowed across her face in the process and she brought her hand up to her chest. Was somebody calling her name?
"SAAAAAAKUURA-CHAAAN!!!" a powerful voice rang through out the streets. "Waaaait up!"
Who else could it have been but Naruto. The young blue eyed man ran down the stone sidewalk nearly tripping over a cart full of fruits and vegetables. Older, stronger, and wiser maybe, but Naruto was still a klutz at times. When he had caught up to the young woman, he looked her up and down "Wow! You look amazing. I didn't realize it was you at first because you weren't wearing you're usual outfit" Sakura looked at her friend and smiled politely. "Ano Sakura" Naruto continued "I just wanted to say Happy Birthday! Come on, I'll buy you some Ramen for lunch" he smiled a goofy smile and hugged his favorite teammate.
Sakura was flattered by Naruto's gesture, but she really wasn't in the mood to deal with people, or food for that matter. "Thank you Naruto…but I'm not sure if I'm really hungry right now. Maybe another time?" she suggested. Naruto pretended to look hurt as he ranted "Ehhhh Sakura? It's your Birthday! Now come on and enjoy it. I'm going to buy you Ramen TODAY because you didn't come with me yesterday. What do you say…come on, onegai?" Naruto flashed her another smile, his eyes pleading. Sakura smiled at his persistence and accepted somewhat hesitantly. Naruto had noticed that even though Sakura had looked happy, her eyes could have said otherwise. He decided to refrain from making any comments but if he saw that this persisted he would have to bring it up. "Alright! Lets go get some food, im starving!" he laughed.
AN: Alrighty, that's chapter 2. Next chapter will be the Ramen Shop...DUN DUN DUNNNN! The characters are gonna slowly start noticing small changes in Sakura etc. Her habit is gonna become progressively worse. OH and I think ill make sakura's first run-in with sasuke/ino in the next chappie. Thanks for reading! Reviews are welcomed greatly :)