The Band of Time
Chapter 02 – The Picture Of Utter Confusion
Soon, Sakura saw a light ahead. As they broke through the forest's edge, she gasped. As far as she knew, on the other side of the park are the busy streets of downtown. Well, not anymore! Sitting in front of her was a large gate made of wood. At the moment, it was shut. It reached higher then she could ever possibly see, and its walls stretched left and right. It was like a huge fort. Suddenly, she heard a voice. "State your name and business!" She looked up to see a small box above the gate. In it sat two men. Naruto called up to them. "Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. We're back from our mission. Also, we have a guest. Sakura…" he turned to Sakura. "Oh. Haruno! Sakura Haruno!" She called up to the man. The gates then began to open. "Enjoy your visit miss Haruno!" Sakura smiled. "Thank you!"
When the gates opened, the three walked inside. Sakura was looking up and down. She was utterly amazed! It was like a huge city inside the fort. But, it was a weird city. The streets were made of dirt, and not a single car was seen on them. It was sort of like a small Amish community… but then again, lights were everywhere. Lanterns were streamed throughout the streets, lighting her way. Then, she realized, she wasn't the only one staring. Everyone on the streets stopped, and they too began to stare dumbly… at her. "Um… why the hell are they looking at me?" She said nervously. Sasuke shrugged. "Maybe your hair." Sakura nodded. "Maybe." Naruto grunted. "Sure, it's not every day you see a pink haired girl, but that's not it! Have you looked at yourself lately? Don't mind me saying so, but you're extremely good looking." Sakura blushed madly. "Me? I'm not that good looking!" Again, Naruto snorted. "Suuure… and what's wrong with you Sasuke! Don't tell me you didn't notice!" Again, Sasuke shrugged. "Not really." Sakura wasn't sure is she should be glad Sasuke is at least the only sane person here, or mad that he pretty much said she wasn't good looking.
Soon the three made their way to a large building. They walked inside and saw many beds and medicine kits. A woman walked in, and greeted them. "Hello. What do you need?" Naruto spoke up, "Well, I need something to stop this damn pain! Stupid Sasuke wouldn't help me kill the bastards…" Sasuke grunted. "Also, could you bandage her up?" he gestured toward Sakura. The nurse nodded. "Sure." A few minutes later, Naruto had been given some type of gross medicine, which he made rather known. Also, Sakura's wounds were cleaned and bandages.
They soon walked out and back into the cities streets. "Well, thanks for everything. I should probably get back home now." Naruto looked up. "Where do you live anyway?" Sakura smiled, "Oh, about a three minutes walk from where someone attacked me." Naruto looked confused. "But, that can't be right. There is nothing out there for another week or so." Sakura's eyes widened. "WHAT? That can't be…urg!" She was getting frustrated and tired. 'Why always me!'
"Well, you can stay at one of our houses for tonight, then we can work this all out tomorrow." Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Oh, come on Sasuke! You know my house is small… cramped… trashy… ugly…" Sakura laughed, "Just all around crappy?" Naruto nodded. "Exactly. Sasuke, you've got a massive house! You can spare one bed!" Sasuke just kept glaring. Naruto sighed. "Fine! But, you probably won't like it there." Sakura smiled, "I'll be ok."
Sakura and Naruto soon came to a group of apartment buildings. Naruto opened the door to one, and walked in. Sakura fallowed him. It was pretty small and ugly. "Well, you can have the bed if you want. I'll sleep on the couch. And in the…" Naruto turned, seeing Sakura had already found a spot on the old sofa in the corner of the room. Her eyes were closed, and she breathed calmly in and out. He smiled. She looked even better when she was asleep. He quickly hopped into his own bed, and he too fell asleep.
In the morning, Sakura woke with a yawn. She rolled to a sitting position on the couch. When she looked toward the bed, she realized Naruto was not yet awake. There was no TV or computer, so she was pretty much screwed. She decided to just look around. He had very little; a fridge, a table with only one chair, and a lot of trash. Suddenly, she noticed a small photo on the counter on the other side of the room. She got up and walked over to it, picking it up. In the picture, Naruto, along with everyone else, was probably about 13. Immediately she was drawn to one particular person. No, it wasn't Sasuke looking extremely hot in the corner, or Naruto looking rather excited in the other. It was a small girl that stood in the back. She had shot black hair and a pair of clear eyes. She was blushing slightly, trying to hide in the background. 'B…BG?' Sure enough, it was defiantly BG. But a few things struck Sakura as very, very weird. One, BG was about 13 in the picture. She had disappeared about three years before this picture was taken. Two, how the hell was she here? Why was she with Naruto, Sasuke and these other kids? And Three, she's… well, she's dead.
Suddenly, Naruto spoke rather loudly behind her. "Hey, what-cha doin?" Normally, Sakura would have jumped at the sudden noise, but she was already too freaked out to get startled. "Oh, that's a picture of us when we were rookies, a bit over 2 years ago. We had just passed the 1st part of the chunin exams. See, that's Sasuke and me. Then there's Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, Shino and…" Sakura suddenly broke him off with a faint whisper. "Hinata."
A/N: -gasp!- Yes, BG... Hinata... the dead girl... all one in the same. Now, go back and read the Prolouge again... notice how it is much sadder, and how you sorta understand the whole 'fall in love with his smile' bit. It gives it a bunch more perspective, doesn't it? Ok, review, or the next chapter jsut isn't coming! Thanks! Dani out!