The Time it Took
Summary: Haruno Sakura can never forget what he did to her. Her parents moved her to a new place with new faces...just to forget. Two years can do a lot to change one girl. SakuraxOC
Chapter Three: Year One Part III
"KYAHH!"
Sakura suddenly jumped up from her bed, falling onto the floor in the process, head first.
"Ouch, dammit!"
She slowly stood up from the floor, clutched her head, and made her way to her open window. She saw the village citizens running frantically from the streets into their homes.
What's going on?
She hopped onto her windowsill and climbed her way to the roof. It was strange; usually the people would be calm this early in the morning…
"Shinobi attack! Shinobi attack!"
Sakura whipped her head around and stared at the village. What shinobi attack? The only shinobi she knew was sitting on the roof of her home, very annoyed that she was awakened so early.
Then she heard it.
It was a male voice, and rang loud and clearly from the forest. The birds flew away from the trees, giving the speaker a more ominous feel.
"Burn!"
The fire raged from the forest, each tree being set aflame one by one as a female voice echoed throughout the trees.
"KYAHH!"
Sakura quickly rushed to the forest, her forehead protector in place. She was careful not to show any signs that she was the shinobi, so she dressed all in black, her long pink hair tied back and covered. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew she had to do something. There was someone in that burning forest…and Sakura had to do something to help. She gripped the katana at her side tighter…this was a major risk for her.
She stopped dead in her tracks.
It couldn't be…
There, making hand signs for another flame attack was a young girl with lavender hair tied in two neatly braided pigtails. In front of her was an older teenage boy, his brown hair not yet long enough to tie back, holding the same katana that Sakura has been using since she first came here…
…
…
…
"Sakura-neechan! Wake up you lazy bum!"
Sakura woke up with a start, falling onto the floor in the process, head first.
"Ouch! What the hell?"
Her inner-self laughed. Talk about déjà vu…didn't you already fall to the floor like an idiot?
"Na-kun! I told you to leave Onee-chan alone!"
Sakura stood up from her position and saw both Nami and Natsumi, the identical twins. Natsumi smiled, "Good Morning!" while Nami scowled at her younger counterpart.
"Ah," Sakura began, untying her braided hair and letting it flow behind her, "and to what to I owe for this little wake-up call?"
Natsumi winked, "You owe us nothing. But we decided we should wake you up."
"It took us, like, thirty minutes to get you up." Nami said sarcastically.
Sakura stared at Nami and saw flames…lots and lots of flames…
No, she shook the image out of her head, it couldn't be her…shinobi arts are forbidden.
She has been having the same dream now for the past two months. It always consisted of Nami – or was it Natsumi? – and Sanosuke. They were always surrounded by fire, no matter what the situation was.
"Onee-chan, are you awake now?"
Sakura smiled and stretched her limbs. "Yeah, I guess I am now. So what is the infamous Kawahara twins want?"
Natsumi frowned. "I am the innocent one. I have no relation to the infamous Kawahara Nami."
Nami scowled yet again. Nami was the rebellious one, with the short hair and bandanna. Her golden eyes shone with such determination for anything, sometimes turning into an icy stare if necessary.
"Well, we wanted to know if you were busy right now…"
"Me? No. I just woke up…remember?"
Natsumi smiled. "Good! Nami and I have a class today – the literature/speaking one – and we thought it would be nice for you to come and watch us. It is out turn to present our work today."
Sakura pretended to be disinterested. She knew that the twins were very good when it comes to that sort of thing. Natsumi loved and had a knack for writing short stories and poems; she was dead shy about reading them aloud. Nami on the other hand, wrote horrible poems and short stories but declared beautifully.
"I guess I can go…but you guys have to wait a bit so I can get ready."
"Hai!"
Sakura came out of her room eight minutes later, dressed in a simple tan dress. "Let's go!"
Natsumi smiled and Nami just nodded, both of them containing excitement.
'…so that life can never be fulfilled.'
The class applauded at the blue haired, blue eyed young boy and his short poem about the life never fulfilled.
Sakura yawned very discreetly. This whole session was starting to get boring for her; it was either that or she needed more sleep.
"Good job, Yuki. Now for another group project: Kawahara Natsumi and Kawahara Nami.
Natsumi stood up as Nami took her place on the stage. The younger twin then said, "T-this piece was…um…written by myself and it is entitled 'Feelings of the Heart.' Please enjoy."
Sakura applauded with every one else and brought her full attention to the stage where Nami was already reciting the poem.
"Sometimes it's just a matter of time,
Sometimes it's just a matter of faith.
But whether we dream it or believe it,
It's never ever going to change.
Life can be cruel, unfair, even rough.
Waiting is hard, forgetting is even worse.
Nothing can prevent the illness of heart,
May it be good or bad, it'll never leave.
The heartaches and pain,
The sufferings and torture,
It all hurts so very bad.
The feeling of heart to heart,
The feeling of kiss to kiss,
All of it is just a dream, a lover's bliss.
With the thrust of a sword,
The strike of an arrow,
Pure innocence is flowing away,
Forever lost in the void of darkness.
But, with the star's everlasting light,
The naïve child walks towards dawn,
Avoiding pain, avoiding sorrow.
Sometimes it's just a matter of time,
Sometimes it's just a matter of faith.
But whether we dream it or believe it,
It's never ever going to change."
Nami took a deep breath and smiled to the crowd. She said each word strongly and with so much passion that the crowd was able to feel what she was saying…
Especially one Haruno Sakura.
The whole room broke into cheers and claps…but it became all unclear and muddled in her ears.
She was the only non-student there…yet the words touched her heart so much…it reminded her of feelings she thought were forgotten…
"Onee-chan? Are you alright?" Natsumi asked, her eyes filled with concern.
Sakura blinked and realized that she was crying silent tears…
"Sakura-neechan, are you sure you are okay?" Nami asked; her hands at the back of her head.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied, forcing a smile.
The three were walking back to Sakura's place after the lesson; the sky signaled that it was past noon, and the girls were all very hungry. But, as karma would have it, the lesson they had today was outside of the village, and it would take at least forty-five minutes to get back. Luckily for them, they could see the top of the village tower.
Nami sighed deeply and recited another poem under her breath. Natsumi walked gracefully next to her sister. Sakura silently walked behind them, thinking about her own very thoughts.
Why, of all the people, you would think about HIM? Her inner-self proclaimed.
I don't know…
Ah, it cannot be helped. You cannot stop thinking about him anyways.
Sakura sighed…she knew that something in the village would remind her about him…
"Who do we have here? It's the studious Natsumi and her twerp sister Nami! And let's not forget the sweet and charming Sakura."
The three girls were met by a young man, sitting on an overly huge rock, grinning at them. He flipped his now long hair back and said, "Hey guys."
Natsumi waved and replied, "Hello Sempai. Why were you not at class today?"
Sanosuke looked to the clouds and said, "I didn't fell up to it. I knew that the twerp would kick my ass if I did."
Nami clenched her fist and said through her teeth, "Damn right I would have, Sano-temme."
"Na-kun, please stop!"
Nami just scowled.
Sanosuke turned to Sakura and his grin grew bigger. "Hey, Sakura! How's it going?"
"Same old stuff."
"Ah." He said, closing his eyes. "You know, it's Himi-rin's birthday today."
Natsumi clasped her hands together. "Oh course it is! Na-kun and I have been planning something good because Himijima-sama asked us too! Isn't that right Na-kun?"
"Yup."
Sanosuke nodded and turned to Sakura who was deeply immersed in her own thoughts. He made a mental note to ask her about it later. He has known her for almost a whole year, and she was still a complete mystery to him; and for some reason, when they had time to talk to each other alone, they were either interrupted by his girlfriend or by Sakura growing silent after mentioning one name…
Flashback
Sanosuke laughed. Sakura was talking about her friends again, this time he was interested in the blonde one – Naruto, was it? – and his retarded approach in life. Well, he thought it was retarded.
"That wasn't even half of it! Naruto was always like that, acting like he was invincible or something…but hey, he is my friend, and I'm used to it."
Sanosuke stared at her, and for the first time, realized that she had beautiful eyes...and a wonderful laugh…and…
"Sano-chan! Are you there?"
"Himi-rin, I'm upstairs."
Himiko, with her long black hair swaying behind her, popped out and said, "I'm leaving now, okay? Don't forget that I will be calling all the time!"
Sanosuke nodded as she walked out with a last, "Sakura-san! Don't do anything with my Sano-chan!"
Sakura smiled as Sanosuke turned to her. "Don't worry Sanosuke-kun; I won't do anything like that."
"Hm, so that means you have someone back home?"
"Yeah."
Sanosuke pretended to look disappointed – which in fact he was – and said, "So spill, who is he?"
Sakura's eyes lit up and sparkled as she said his name, "Uchiha Sasuke. It used to be a crush then after some time I realized how much I really lo…"
"Sakura?"
She grew silent, her eyes no longer gleaming as bright as before.
End Flashback
"Sakura?"
She didn't reply to him, she just stood there, her head spinning about forgotten emotions.
The evening came faster than usual; the huge household decorated and lighted up for the occasion. It seemed to Sakura that the whole village was in that huge house, considering that the whole place was packed. She nervously twirled a strand of pink hair in between her fingers and stopped to adjust the white headband she put on. Here she was at this HUGE party standing alone…completely alone. Sure, maybe the short black dress was too much...it had no straps and it did show her curves off...maybe it was too much…was it? The silver bangles around her wrists could be over doing it…or was it the anklet? She knew the necklace was okay, I mean come on, a star and a moon? How bad is that?
"Na-chan! Na-chan! Where the heck are you?" Nami came bustling in front of her, the gold chain that was hung around her waist moved along with the sway of her body. She wore a one piece white dress that stopped just above her knees, the straps going up and around her neck. Her hair was let down, the lavender locks just barely touching her shoulders. "Sakura-neechan, have you seen that sister of mine?"
Sakura shook her head, "No, not yet at least."
"Damn, I thought she would be with you. Oh well." Nami sighed, turning to stare at Sakura. "Hey, aren't you glad that the dress code was anything but tan?"
"Yeah, but the outfit had to have either black or white as the main colors. I mean, come on. Himiko-san should have spiced it up a bit."
Just as she said that, Himiko came up to them, smiling as big as ever. Untrue to the dress code, she wore a blood red dress that flowed down and stopped at her ankles, it had a slit that went up to just above the knee. "Are you guys enjoying the party?"
Sakura nodded and said, "So how does it feel to be fifteen at last?"
"It feels great! Nami-chan, have you seen Sano-kun?"
"Nope, I haven't seen Sano-temme anywhere."
Sakura smiled as the pounding music grew louder and louder in her head. This party was a good idea to go to…it took her mind of things…
"Onee-chan! Na-kun!"
Sakura turned to see the younger twin walking up to them. Natsumi wore something similar to Nami except that her dress was a little longer that it stopped a few inches below her knee. The straps for her dress were simple, elegant spaghetti style.
"Na-kun, I was looking all over for you! Do you know how hard it is to find someone in this crowd?" Natsumi said, her long hair swaying behind her.
"You were looking for me? No, I was looking for you." She retorted, her eyes flaring up.
"Oh, don't get me started Kawahara Nami, you trouble maker."
"Please, I could go on forever about you!"
The twins were about to fight when a certain Sanosuke walked in, pushing them away from each other. "Ladies, ladies, please, no fighting!"
"Sano-chan!"
"Sempai, you sure are looking sharp today." Natsumi said, smiling and pretending that Nami was not there.
"Why, thank you Natsumi. All of you are looking extra beautiful tonight as well…" he said, his eyes trailing to Sakura.
"Na-chan…it's time…"
"Oh, right. We have to go now you guys, we have some work to do!"
The twins hurried away while Himiko continued to adore Sanosuke. Sakura smiled to herself…this is how her life should be…with friends and laughter…
Sakura…
She jumped at the voice she heard in her head…
Go to the balcony…
She slowly walked there…
Wait for me…
Sakura stood still at the balcony…the voice told her to stay…and she did.
Sanosuke watched as Sakura stood there like an obedient puppet. It was his special art…and he loved using it to get some answers…
Pity, he had to use it against Sakura…he was hoping she would open up to him…but she didn't…so he resorted to the old hypnotism.
He stood next to her and wrapped his arms around her slim figure. He whispered gently in her ear, "Who is Uchiha Sasuke?"
Sakura replied, almost as though she weren't hypnotized at all, "The one I love"
"Why?"
"Because that is what my heart is telling me..."
"But why him?"
"Sasuke-kun…I love him…but…I am not sure why…I cannot describe it at all…"
"Do you still love him, Sakura?" He held her more tightly.
"…Yes…but he hurt me…and I want to forget but I cannot…my heart won't let me because…
"You love him."
A smile crept upon her lips. "Yes."
"But he hurt you…why are you still holding on? What makes you still love him, Sakura?"
"When I saw his eyes…I knew I was making a mistake...but I cannot tell why…"
"Tell me how…" Sanosuke closed his eyes and took in Sakura's scent.
"I saw him with her…my rival…he would not let go…he held her tight…after I told him…and…and…I..." Sakura stuttered, tears falling down from her face.
"Shh, don't cry… I don't want you too cry, you are too beautiful for that… my little Saku-rin."
Sakura still kept crying, the hypnosis wearing off. Her shoulders shook with each breath she took, and she turned around to bury her head into Sano's chest.
"No…his smile…it's forbidden…don't break my heart again…"
Sanosuke stroked her hair, whispering, "Its okay, Saku-rin. Just cry it all out…I will always be here to protect you…but promise me you will not go back to Konohagakure…my little shinobi flower…"
Sakura's tears just kept falling, she did not hear Sanosuke's comment, nor did she care. She knew that she was lost and alone, her heart broken into millions of pieces…and her heart is never going to heal.
"Saku-rin…stay with me…"
To Be Continued
Author's Note: You know what….updating is getting harder and harder for me…but I think I'm going to do a routine for it...I'll figure something out…sorry for taking so long though…hope this was worth your wait! Reviews/comments/suggestions/flames/anything else are welcome!