A/N: This lovely plot bunny was delivered to me late at night while I was listening to Evanescence "Restless." Here I am with another random One-shot, and guess what? It's actually somewhat cannon. I hope... I'll let my BETA decide that. Thanks are in order to the one and only JK! Thanks a lot!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the title to this story, because it is an Evanescence song.
Restless
It was sad to see it - that sight Naruto had watched over so many times before. On the outskirts of the village, that same shot of pink could be seen, waiting. He could only sigh at her persistence. She was still waiting for him. He had given up hope a long time ago that he would come back. He had almost killed him once before, what was to say he wouldn't try again? It was true that Naruto had given up hope to ever see Sasuke again, at least adorning the symbol of Konoha on his head, but she couldn't so she waited every night for the day he would return.
"Sakura-chan, come on. You need to get home." Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her somewhat out of the daze.
"N-no, Naruto. He's going to c-co-come back. And when he does, he'll see that I w-wa-waited for him. I k-kn-know he's coming tonight."
Naruto sighed once again. 'She says that every night. Tonight won't change. It's never going to change. She's been doing this for a whole year now. Why doesn't she give up?' He walked away with his head hung. He would just have to try again tomorrow morning.
Night after night, it's the same thing. Naruto tries to get her to come home, but she just says the same thing that she does every night: "He's coming home tonight." Most people have started to think she's crazy, but those who are close to her know the truth. Sakura hasn't been right since the day Sasuke left. Every night he doesn't return allows her to slip farther away from reality.
Tsunade can't do anything more for her; she just keeps training her and hoping one day she'll forget about him. She even smiles to the young girl when she tells her about their past together. They were a team after all.
Naruto tries to help. He really does. He offers her dinner, and has even stayed with her outside the gates "waiting". He knows the truth, and he has known it all along. Sasuke was never coming back to this village. He just hoped one day she'd realize that.
Ino cries for her former best friend. To her, she's not even Sakura anymore. She is some deluded person living in the past. Sakura had once told her about the conversation they had the night she tried to stop him from leaving. He had said that he was too different from her and Naruto. His dreams did not lie in the future but in the past. Ino almost laughed at the irony, if it wasn't for the fact that it was heartbreaking. Sakura's mind no longer understood the future or the present for that matter. She was stuck in the past.
"Naruto! Naruto! I have to tell you something!" She ran to him, her hair glistening from the early morning light. Her smile was something that Naruto hadn't seen in quite sometime.
"What is it Sakura-chan? What happened?"
"It's Sasuke! He came back to me last night. I told you that if I waited he would come back. I told you!"
Naruto was crushed at her words. A few ninjas had been watching over her during the night. They did it every night just make sure she didn't hurt herself. Tsunade herself had ordered it so. Naruto had known about it for a while now. In fact, he had been called on a few times for watch duty, however both Hinata and Ino had been on watch last night and had already told him what had happened. He knew. She had "seen" Sasuke, but she was the only one. His friend had finally lost the rest of the sanity she had.
"Oh, and Naruto, he said he's coming back! Well, not now, because he's not done with his brother, but he promised to come back to us - to me! Oh, Naruto, aren't you so happy? I mean, finally we can be Team Seven again! Everything will be fine. I just have to wait a little longer." She didn't even take notice of Naruto's expression as he plastered on a fake smile.
"That's great, Sakura-chan. I'm happy for you. Um... I do have to meet the Hokage, so I'll just talk to you later." He waved as he walked away. Even if Sasuke did come back now, they would never be Team Seven again. How could they without her? Tsunade had already made motions to stop her from participating in any type of mission. Now it seems that his pink haired friend would be forever lost in her own mind. Naruto sighed as he trudged to Tsunade's office, a lone tear slipping down his cheek.
That's what became of Sakura. She lost everything she had waiting for him. Her friends, family, even her sanity slipped beyond her grasp. She was trapped in the past; the only thing left was the memories of him, of her Sasuke-kun. Even now, Naruto can glance back at the road on the edge of Konoha and see that sad pink dot waiting, and he knows; he knows it will still be there at the very beginning of the new sunrise, never moving, never speaking. Just waiting. That's when Naruto would step in.
"Come on, Sakura-chan. Let's get you home."
She would just smile and grab a hold of his hand. "He's coming back Naruto. He'll come back tonight."
Naruto would just give her that same sad smile. "Sure he is, Sakura-chan. Sure he is."
I don't know why you keep playing with me Sasuke-kun. Just come home. You belong here, with us, not with him. I know tonight you'll come back home, and when you do you'll say, "Sakura. Did you wait here this whole time for me?" And I will tell you that I did, because I believed in you. I'm the only one that does. Maybe then you'll see my strength. Maybe then you'll fall in love, and realize how happy you could be with me.
I close my eyes, they open to find you standing there, smiling. I knew I was right. If I waited long enough you would come back to me. I take your outstretched hand, and feel you pull me into the warm embrace I waited so long for. It's then that I hear you speak to me, but what are you telling me?
Why do you have to leave again? I just want you to come home. You always do this to me Sasuke-kun. You come back to me, but always leave before the sun rises again. You keep saying that you'll come back, not now, but soon. I can wait. I've always waited, and you'll be back. You promised, and you can't break a promise, remember that Sasuke-kun. I'll be here when you come back next time. Next time it'll be for good right?
A/N: See what happens when you give me depressing music, and boredom. Okay well I hope you all enjoyed this little piece. I actually had a lot of fun writing it. Don't be mad at me Sakura fans! I kind of made her sad and pathetic in this, but don't get me wrong I still love her as a character. This goes to show you what happens what you live too much in the past. Oh! And here are the song lyrics. It took me forever to find them, and I know it's not a well-known song that they did. It's called "Restless" by Evanescence.
She embraced with a smile
As she opened the door
A cold wind blows
It puts a chill
Into her heart
You have taken away the trust
You're the ghost haunting through her heart
Past and present are one in her head
You're the ghost haunting through her heart
Take my hand as I wander through
All of my life I gave to you
Take my hand as I wander through
All of my love I gave to you
(killer guitar riff)
You have taken away the trust
You're the ghost haunting through her heart
Past and present are one in her head
You're the ghost haunting through her heart
Lai lai lai la lai lai lai la lai lai lai lai lai la lai lai lai
Lai lai lai la lai
La la la lai
La la la lai
Take my hand as I wander through
All of my life I gave to you
Take my hand as I wander through
All of my love I gave to you
Junsui Kegasu's BETA Notes: I put Sakura's little POV at the end, because I thought it flowed better down there, and if anything (because you asked for concrit – I think it's beautiful) you could expand on that bit a little bit. Or maybe not because it's at the end now. Eh, never mind me. Lovely little piece. I need to get you to send me that song…