A/N: Hey, everyone. This is a little fic I thought up one night, and I thought "Hell, why not?", so I posted it. I now have two stories to my name. Yay! This is a oneshot, although I may make it a twoshot at one point or another, if I feel like it. Probably not. Anyway, no pairings in particular, unless you want to interpret it that way. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: Naruto me no own-y.
Sakura sat on the wall that surrounded her life-long home. Gazing out at the nearby forest, she thought about people that had she had met throughout her life.
There was Tsunade-sama, who had become a cross between a sensei, mother, older sister, and best friend.
There was Rock Lee, the harbinger of youthfulness, Hyuga Neji, the ice cube of Konoha, and Tenten, the amazing weapons-nin.
There was Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru, the infamous prankster and the undeniably cute little dog, Hyuga Hinata, the shy little girl turned assured young woman, and Aburame Shino, the mysterious bug master.
There was Nara Shikamaru, the tactical genius, Akamichi Choji, human garbage-disposal, and Yamanaka Ino, her friend turned rival turned friend again.
There was Hatake Kakashi, her former sensei and mentor, Uzumaki Naruto, the maverick show-stopper comedy ninja, and…Uchiha Sasuke, the boy who broke her heart.
Three years. Three years it had been since he left, and there wasn't a day gone by that she hadn't thought about him. It hurt, though. It hurt so badly, and she just wanted to move on, to forget. She wanted to forget him and everything about him, including the feelings she had for him. She didn't want to love him anymore, but how can you just leave behind something that had been such an immense part of your life?
She just didn't understand it. He had left: left the village, left his home, left the people who cared about him, and left…her. Oh, sure, she knew why. He wanted to kill his brother and avenge his family. But knowing and understanding were two different things.
Some days, Sakura wondered what she really had to live for. The void where Sasuke had once been sometimes seemed like it would consume her if she didn't escape. It took everything she had just to keep going, but it was almost too much. If it weren't for her friends, she might have already given in to the despair. She couldn't go on like this much longer.
Suddenly, Sakura felt something small and hard collide with her chest. Looking down, she realized that the thing was in fact a very wriggly little dog. "Akamaru!" she exclaimed, "You almost knocked me off the wall!"
Said dog looked up at her with such a pitiful face that she couldn't stay angry with him. Once he had assured himself that she was no longer cross with him, Akamaru nosed her hand, seeing if she had forgiven him enough to pet him. She had. Watching the little dog squirm in her lap, Sakura asked him "Where's Kiba-san, Akamaru? If you're here, he can't be far behind."
Almost as if he had read her mind, Kiba appeared at the bottom of the wall. "Hey, guys," he yelled over his shoulder, "I found Sakura!"
Akamaru, who had rolled onto his back better to allow Sakura to pet him, looked at him upside-down and barked at Kiba.
"Alright, alright, sorry," Kiba told him. "I mean, Akamaru found her. Hurry up!"
Sakura followed Kiba's line of vision to see Naruto and Lee heading to where Kiba was standing.
"There you are, Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"Yeah, there's a party at Naruto's house, and he wouldn't let us start until he found you." Kiba said.
"A party?"
Yes, and you must come join us!" Lee told her. "There will be music and dancing and food and much youthful celebration!"
Sakura looked at the three of them, who were smiling up at her. Feeling a pull on her shirt, she saw that Akamaru was tugging it to signal his agreement.
"Sorry guys, but-" she began.
"Come on, you have to go!" Naruto was becoming impatient. "You hardly get out anymore! A party will do you some good!"
She smiled a small smile down at her friends. They were trying so hard to snap her out of her depression, to make her happy. Maybe she did have something to live for. After all, some things change…
"You're holding up the party, Sakura!"
…and some things stay the same…
"Alright, alright, you win. I'm coming!"
…but life goes on.
A/N: Well, there it is. Not really long, but hey, they can't all be. I know this one is very different from my Conflicting Chaos (for one thing, it's on a bit of a more serious note), but I hoped you liked it anyways.
Has anyone noticed something familiar about this fic? If you said Akamaru pelting Sakura, you were right. I think I might make that a continuous theme in my fics. I love him, he's just so cute! In fact, Akamaru is part of the reason why I like Kiba. I loved the picture of them in the beginning of book 9. I'm such a sucker for dogs. XD