Fallen Petals
by Diana-san

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 8

Sakura opened her eyes. She slowly blinked as sunlight filled the room.

'Where am I?' Sakura thought groggily.

She glanced around the room sleepily. Everything in view was seen fuzzy to her. Suddenly, her senses sharpened as her eyes got into focus. She stared up at the ceiling. The dull white coloring stared back at her. She turned her head to the side and saw a sleeping head by her side. She sat up slowly as she stared at the mysterious figure who was seated on a chair and had his head rested on the bed. He was asleep and his chest was going up and down from his steady breathing. His raven locks framed his handsome face.

Sakura tried to think back about what happened the day before. 'Oh, that's right. I went to ask Sasuke if he would take me to the festival. And he said no…'

'Then what happened?'

Sakura scratched her head as she closed her eyes and went deep into thought. 'And then…and then I fainted on the ground.'

Sakura's eyes then flew opened. 'Oh no! The festival is today!'

Sakura quickly jumped out of bed but was sure as to not awaken the sleeping boy who was still sleeping peacefully. She rubbed her eyes as she tried to get herself to be fully awake. She was about to leave the room quietly when she noticed something resting on top of a drawer. She walked over to it to get a better look.

It was a large, white rectangular shaped box. A small pink ribbon was tied around it. Sakura slowly untied the ribbon and removed the lid of the box. She gently placed the lid besides the box and the ribbon on top of the lid. Inside the box was white tissue paper and a white card. The card had her name inscribed on the front. She opened it up and began to read the card.

Sakura,

Since you have outgrown the kimono you wore five years ago, I had Shizune get someone to fix it so that it would fit you again. It is the exact kimono that your mother gave you when you were thirteen only it has been altered so that it is longer. I had it sent up to your room so that you could wear it to the festival if you have no other outfit to wear. Inside this box is also a special necklace that your mother told me to give you when you reached 18. She specifically asked me to give it to you the day of the Cherry Blossom Festival instead of your birthday. Anyway, have fun at the festival Sakura!

-Tsunade

Sakura smiled. 'Thank you Tsunade-sama.'

Sakura removed the tissue paper and found a beautiful kimono lying in the box. She fingered the soft pink material and traced her finger around the outlines of the white blossoms. A pendant laid resting on top of the kimono. She picked it up and fingered it in her hands. It was a pendant of a cherry blossom and it hanged on a long golden chain. The sakura flower glinted against the sunlight as the colors danced around the necklace. A clear jewel was at the center of the flower and it shone with perfect brilliance.

A smile played at the corner of her lips. 'Thank you, okaa-san.'

Sakura placed her brush down. She had just finished combing her hair into two perfect buns. A pink satin ribbon was tied around each hair bun. She smoothed out any wrinkles that was in her kimono and tightened the rose colored sash that went around her waist. She looked back at the mirror to check if everything was perfect. When she was satisfied with what she saw, she stood up.

She was still in her hospital room and Sasuke was still fast asleep with his head resting against the edge of the bed. Sakura quietly walked to the door and opened it slowly so that no noise would disturb Sasuke's sleep. She slipped out quietly like the wind as a true ninja should be able to do.

She stood still and listened for any sounds. Not wanting to disturb any other patients, she quietly found her way outside of the hospital.

It was still early in the morning and preparations for the festival still hadn't begun. Sakura didn't want to be in town seeing as it might cause too much trouble for her if she was caught wandering by herself. Sakura wandered around and she found herself standing before the Konoha memorial stone.

'Okaa-san and otou-san…'

Sakura kneeled down beside the stone and found her parents' names instantly. She had been to that stone many times and she almost memorized the exact spot where her parents' names were written. She traced her fingers around the lettering of her mother's name and then down to her father's name.

Tears streamed down Sakura's face. She quickly wiped them away with the sleeve from her kimono.

'Silly Sakura. Okaa-san wouldn't want to see you crying again after five long years.' Sakura scolded herself.

She smiled as she touched the stone again.

'Mother. Father. Thank you for everything you have given me.'

Sakura stood up and brushed off the grass on her pink kimono. She turned around and was about to leave when a sudden noise startled her. A rustle of leaves gave her an alert as she took a fighting stance.

"Who's there?" she called out. She looked around the trees to see if she could spot anyone.

She narrowed her eyes when she heard yet again another rustle of leaves. This time, a figure emerged from the shadows of the trees. Actually, it was two figures. Sakura stood up straight in surprise when she saw that they were just ordinary village people.

'Ugh. They look drunk though.' Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust.

The larger of the two men walked closer to Sakura and he smiled a big toothy grin at her. Sakura returned his smile with a glare.

"Hey ya pretty girl," he said with a drunken voice. He staggered as he walked even closer.

Sakura stepped back and glared at him again. "Stay away from me, you drunk bastard."

"What's your problem? I just wanted to say hi to you."

Sakura smirked. "I don't talk to strangers.'

The shorter of the two guys started to walk up to stand beside his friend. "Hey lady! You want to have some fun?" he asked. He also smiled a toothy grin at Sakura.

Sakura groaned. 'Great. Now I have to deal with not just drunk people but drunk and perverted people.'

Sakura brought her hand to her back and she tried to feel for her weapon holster. 'Dammit! I left all my weapons with my other clothes when I changed into this kimono.'

Sakura frowned as she clenched her hands tightly. 'Then I will just have to use my strength. This shouldn't be hard since they aren't even shinobi.'

The larger guy noticed Sakura's tight fist and grinned. "Oh, so now you want to get rough, eh?"

He chuckled and then went charging straight at Sakura.

Surprised by the blunt attack, Sakura barely escaped as she made a flip backwards and landed on her feet against the soft grass.

"Heh. For a girl, you are pretty good at escaping from me."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. 'Damn. I don't want to fight him because I will ruin my kimono if I do. And this kimono is too special to me for it to be damaged by two reckless and drunk fools.'

'And another thing…using our monstrous strength would require chakra and we're still not rested enough to be able to do numerous punches.'

'So that means I only get about a few hits in before I collapse from low chakra level.'

'Also, one direct hit from either one of these guys and we're done for. Not only will they ruin the kimono but we're still weak physically so any body attacks aimed towards us will create a huge strain on the body thus causing us to collapse like a lifeless doll.'

'Dammit! So, I have to attack them with all I got without getting hit!'

'It's all about dodge and hit from here on out.'

'I got no other choice left.'

'We could always try running.'

'Too late. They cornered us already.'

Sakura glared at the guy in front of her. It was the smaller guy who had two missing front teeth and seemed the most drunk. She could see the larger guy behind her from the corner of her eye.

'They may not be shinobi but they sure do move fast.'

'This might be a bigger challenge than we thought.'

Determined to end the battle quickly, Sakura raised her fist and was ready to throw the first punch.

'The ability to concentrate your chakra at one point and release it all at once at the right time.'

"You interrupted something very special to me and because of that…" Sakura said as she ran towards the guy in front of her. "You must pay!"

She brought her fist back and then aimed straight at the guy's nose.

Just inches from the man's nose, a hand stopped her before she brought permanent damage to it.

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. She gritted her teeth and looked at the guy who stopped her attack.

'He must be strong if he could stop my punch.'

Sakura squinted. The bright sunlight blocked any good view of the guy's face. Sakura shifted to the left and tried to pull her fist away from the guy's strong grasp. When she couldn't, she frowned.

"Let me go!" she demanded.

"Sakura…" a familiar voice said.

Sakura looked up at him again. This time she could see his face clearly.

"Sasuke?"

Sasuke smirked. "Yea."

Sasuke turned around and faced the two drunkards. "Let me handle this Sakura. You're in no condition to fight them. You're just going to ruin your kimono."

Sakura looked away from Sasuke and stared at the ground. 'He's right.'

"Fine," she muttered.

Sasuke released Sakura's hand from his grasp.

The two drunks laughed. "So, you think you can beat the two of us, you punk?" the larger one said in a mocking tone.

Sasuke said nothing except for a smirk. "I don't think I can beat you."

Sasuke brushed back a lock of hair that covered his left eye. His Sharingan was revealed as he said in a smirk, "I know I can beat you."

A breeze flew in as it surrounded the three men and Sakura. Sasuke was faced off against the two drunks and Sakura stood to the side.

"What the hell? Why are his eyes different from before, Kouji?" the short guy asked with a worried look on his face.

The larger guy, Kouji, said nothing. His legs were trembling in fear and his lips were quivering. "U-uchi-h-ha S-Sasuke," he stuttered.

"What! He's an Uchiha!" the short guy cried out.

"So. You heard of me then? That's quite an honor," Sasuke said with yet again another smirk.

The two guys stood frozen in fear as they stared at Sasuke. Sasuke narrowed his Sharingan eyes and lunged towards the two men with a great power of speed. In a few moments, the two men lay on the ground with black eyes and bruises all over.

Sakura bearing witness to the whole thing only winced as she thought of how much pain the two guys must be in right now. Sasuke walked over to Sakura with his hands shoved into the pockets of his shorts as if nothing had ever happened a few minutes ago.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Sakura nodded. She looked over to the two guys who laid in a piled up heap. She sighed. "Sasuke, as much as I appreciated your help, you could have went easy on those two. You could have knocked them out without having to make them suffer in pain like that."

Sasuke said nothing but smirked. "Oh yea? Like you would have went easy on them. Weren't you the one who tried to punch them square in the nose?"

Sakura looked down at the ground and blushed in embarrassment. "That's different," she muttered.

"Hn."

Sasuke turned around and started walking away from Sakura.

Sakura looked up from the ground and called out to Sasuke. "Hey! Where are you going?"

Sasuke turned his head and looked directly into Sakura's emerald green eyes. "The festival. That's where you wanted to go right?"

Sakura looked taken aback by the answer but she nodded.

"Then let's go," Sasuke said as he continued walking.

Sakura followed him, her small steps matching with Sasuke's long strides. It was silent between them as they made their way out of the trees.

Sakura decided to break the silence. "Uhm, Sasuke?"

"Hm?"

"Why are you doing this for me?" Sakura asked softly.

"Doing what?" Sasuke asked.

"The festival. Taking me there. I thought you said you didn't want to go."

Sasuke turned around and stared intently at Sakura. Sakura blushed when she saw Sasuke stared at her. It was making her feel uncomfortable.

After a few seconds of silence, Sasuke spoke up. "Because. If I don't come with you, you might collapse in the middle of the festival," Sasuke said matter-of-factly.

Sakura's face turned red. She pointed a finger at Sasuke as if accusing him of something. "Hey! That's not true! I'm perfectly fine of taking care of myself. I would have been able to defeat those two guys back there if you hadn't come interrupting my fight. In fact, I can fight you right-"

Sakura stopped in mid sentence. She started to feel dizzy as her legs gave in. She collapsed down on the ground with her hand clutching her stomach.

Sasuke rushed to Sakura's side and cradled her head in his arm. "Sakura! Are you alright!"

Sakura closed her eyes. "Sasuke…"

"Sakura!"

"Sasuke…I'm hungry."

Sasuke's heart was about to give out from the panic he almost felt. "YOU MADE ME WORRIED FOR NOTHING!"

Sakura smiled a little. "I made you worried?"

Sasuke sighed. He bent down as lifted Sakura onto his back.

"What are you doing Sasuke?" Sakura asked in a dazed state.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Sasuke said irritated. "I'm going to carry you to the damn festival."

"Sasuke…"

"What?" Sasuke asked, annoyed.

"Thank you." With that last word, Sakura fell asleep.

Sasuke smiled a little. Then he walked off with Sakura on his back as he gave her a piggyback to town where the festival was beginning to start.