Chapter 1 - Fear and Pain, Lost and Alone.

Note: I don't read the manga so nothing in the manga should be in this fan fiction. If it is then it's totally by chance.

Fifteen year old Haruno Sakura sat on the newly rained upon grass, starring up at the cloud dotted sky. Had it really been three years since Uchiha Sasuke had left to 'avenge' his family. Sakura's fists clenched at the thought of how he had betrayed her for such a foolish ambition. Did he really believe that killing his brother would take away all the pain that he had endured? Would it bring back his family? Would it make everything right? No! It wouldn't. Sakura tried to reassure herself that nothing that had happened was her fault, but somehow she just couldn't lead herself to entirely believe that. Was it not her that was not able to stop Sasuke that dark night three years ago? Was it not because she was so weak that she had only been able to watch has his future was buried in the sands of time? These thoughts and more had plagued Sakura ever since that day. Sure, she pretended that Sasuke had never existed and that life was wonderful. However, she knew that even Uzameki Naruto had not truly recovered from that incident.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan, you out here?" Came the familiar voice of Uzameki Naruto. Sakura quickly stood up and wiped off her now slightly dirty outfit.

"Yes, I'm here." Sakura replied. Naruto quickly found her and stood in front of her.

"Sakura-chan, since we have no missions today, I though that maybe…..maybe you might want to you know….do something?" Naruto asked a bit nervously. After all these years, he was still a bit shy around her.

"What did you have in mind, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked gazing off into the distance.

"Well, we could go to the movies or something….how about that?" Naruto asked the idea fresh in his mind.

"That's sounds good." Sakura said snapping out of her sad thoughts and focusing them on the now extremely excited Naruto.

"That was the best movie ever, Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed as the two friends walked out of the movie theater.

"Yeah, it was pretty good." Sakura agreed. Somehow nothing quite seemed to excite her today. Though she tried her best to be.

"The fight scenes were amazing! They were like real ninjas!" Naruto said this time mimicking a ninja throwing a Shuriken (throwing star).

"Of course I'm a better ninja then that actor was." Naruto declared half to Sakura and half to himself.

"Naruto-kun." Sakura began with a serious look on her face, and 'don't talk just listen' type of expression. Naruto stood perfectly still for once in his life, and was careful not to ruin whatever it was Sakura had to say.

"Um….Naruto-kun…..oh, never mind." Sakura said turning away and began walking down the street.

"Nee, Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled catching up to her.

"What the matter?" Naruto asked a crease of worry on his face.

"Nothing, Naruto-kun. I think I'm just going to go home, if you don't mind." Sakura said quickly then disappeared from the street and quickly made her way back to her home. It was getting dark and Sakura's eyes and body quickly reminded her that she was very tired and needed rest. She entered her small bedroom, and lit a candle. She sat their on her bed holding the candle, simply starring at it for as long as she could. Why do you keep burning as you do? In not long you will simply fade away. Your source of life will be stolen from you, and when that happens no one will even remember your name. So why do you do it? Why do you keep burning brightly, in a world that wants nothing but the darkness? Sakura whispered to the candle, half expecting it to answer back. After nearly half an hour of simply watching the candle burn itself away, Sakura finally set it down on her desk, and when the wick was nearly gone, she blew out the flame and set the candle in the garbage. It was no longer useful to anyone. A candle that can not produce light is useless. All that is left to do is replace it with a new one, that will shine brightly until the end of it's day. You have been outdated and become useless, little candle………just like me. Sakura thought to herself tears forming in her emerald eyes. She tried desperately to blink them back. Even if there was no one around, she did not wish to see herself cry. But it was of no use. These tears had been waiting to fall for years, and tonight she had to let them. She lay on her bed and let the tears roll down her face making her pillow into a small lake. Or so it seemed. Sakura then fell asleep to the sound of her sharp breathing and quiet whimpers of sadness.

Sakura had been sleeping in a peaceful rest when she was awakened by a constant knock on her door. She tried to ignore it to the best of her ability but was unable to block it out completely. Sakura slowly pried her eyes open, just enough to see. She then tumbled out of her bed which for some reason seemed much lower to the ground then she had remembered. The carpet feels strange. Sakura thought as she compared the carpet underneath her feet to the much softer carpet of her bedroom that she should be feeling.

As soon as Sakura balanced herself enough to stand decently on her feet, the knocking stopped. Sakura rolled her half open eyes and muttered a couple of swear words to herself. She then carefully and wearily tumbled back into her bed which now seemed much smaller then before. Sakura began to try and go to sleep when she suddenly became aware of a shooting pain in her side. Sakura winced and wrapped her arms around her trying to relieve the pain but it didn't work. She rolled this way and that trying to subdue it but nothing seemed to work. It was then that the hand on her pained side began to feel wet, but not like water. Sakura would have yelled for her mother or father but sleep suddenly overtook her like a wave in the ocean when the winds are at their highest peak. Sakura fell limp and dreams of a world without pain filled her mind.

The next morning Sakura awakes to the bright light of sunshine and the warm feeling that it brings. Sakura smiles a bit while her eyes are still shut, determined to make this day better then the one before. Absolutely nothing is going to stop me! Sasuke is in the past, and Naruto-kun, kakashi-sensei and team 7 is in the future, and that is what I must focus on. Sakura saido herself. She then counted to three and once she had said 'three' Sakura thrust her eyes open without hesitation, only to be shocked beyond her wildest dreams to find herself not in her room…..but in a hospital bed! Sakura looked around shocked unable to figure out what to think, or do for that matter. What the heck…where the heck… Sakura began to flood her mind with questions all directing to, 'what is going on here?'. Sakura then remembered what had happened in the middle of the night, and how everything seemed so different. She also remembered the pain in her side that had almost driven her mad. Sakura rolled back the sheets a bit to find her side wrapped up tightly in bandages and stained with blood….her blood. Sakura's mind continued to whirl, what had happened? Why was she bleeding? And to make matters worse, Sakura looked out her hospital room to see something that made even more questions flood her already crammed mind. This was not Konoha's hospital, for when she looked out the window a ninja, probably a Jounin walked by proudly wearing the forehead protector of the Sand!