Unfaithful Chapter 7: Crystal Clear Memoirs, a naruto fanfic

DISCLAIMER: Look buddy, I don't own Naruto.

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AUTHOR'S NOTES: So this chapter contains quite a lot of flashbacks with ponderings of the main characters. There will be more scenes in the next chapters. But for now, I wanted to add more drama to the plot by making this chapter.

So without any further ado…

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(Act 7 – Crystal Clear Memoirs)

Sasuke was walking late at night with a backpack strapped onto him, when suddenly, Sakura stopped in front of him.

She gasped almost inaudibly as she saw him.

"What are you doing here? It's late at night, taking a stroll?" Sasuke told her.

"Those who leave the town, walk this route." She replied.

"Go home." He said, as he walked past her.

"Why Sasuke-kun?" Sakura stopped Sasuke on his tracks, tears forming in her eyes, "Sasuke-kun, why don't you talk to me? Why don't you want to speak? Please Sasuke-kun, talk to-"

"What for? What do I have to tell you?" Sasuke's anger was slowly rising, "The problem with you is that you always love to interfere. Don't bug me anymore."

"You always act like… like you always resent me, Sasuke-kun." Sakura gasped inaudibly as tears started to trickle down her face, "Can you still remember? When we turned to genins? When the first 3-man team was chosen? I can still remember it clearly; the two of us were in this very same place."

Sakura tried to smile but failed miserably, "You got angry at me at that time."

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"You see? You've got a problem with your attitude because you don't have parents anymore! And because you're now an orphan, you're not used to being scolded by parents! That's why you're so stubborn!" a long, pink-haired, 12-year-old Haruno Sakura told Uchiha Sasuke.

"Sadness." Sasuke said.

"H-huh, what?" Sakura blinked.

"…You can't compare that to any parents' temper."

"Uhm, wait a minute, what the hell are you saying, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura blinked again.

"You're really annoying." Sasuke said.

Sakura just gasped at that comment.

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"I don't remember anything like that." Sasuke told a crying Sakura, who was faking a smile.

Sakura's smile faded as soon as he said that. She then smiled again as she spoke, "Of course you won't, that was a long time ago! But I do believe that that was the start of it all! Our story, Sasuke-kun… Of course, in that story, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei are also included."

Sakura began having flashbacks on her happiest memories with Team 7.

"The four of us… we're always together in missions. All of them are difficult… We always get on each other's nerves! But… even so… we're happy, right?"

Sakura's smile faded away and she bit her lips while her tears just rolled down her cheeks more and more.

She finally found her voice again, "Sasuke-kun, I know what happened to your clan. But… any form of revenge… cannot give you happiness… no one will be happy with that… not even you, Sasuke-kun… or even me…"

"I knew it." Sasuke spoke.

Sakura snapped her head up a bit to stare at his back.

"I am very different from all of you… There's a different path laid down for me." Sasuke told her, "The four of us… Yes, I once thought that maybe all of us have only the same dream. But even though we've been together for a long time… my heart still and only yearns for revenge. That is the reason why I live. There will never be a chance that I would be like you or Naruto."

Sasuke started walking again but he heard, "But Sasuke-kun, don't you feel any sadness when you're lonely?"

Sasuke stopped at his tracks… again.

"Weren't you the one who told me that being lonely hurts so much? Now is the only time when I've realized how much that hurts!" Sakura couldn't control herself anymore, "Yes, I do have my family and my friends… but… if you'll leave me alone, Sasuke-kun… for me… that makes no difference with… being alone in life!"

"From now on," he replied, "we'll walk on different paths."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura called, "I love you so much! You're the most important person in my entire life!"

Sakura's tears are now more unstoppable, "Sasuke-kun, if you won't leave me… I promise you, you won't regret it! You'll always be happy! And you'll never be sad ever again! There is nothing I won't do for you, I promise! So please… I beg of you, don't leave! I'll help you with your revenge! I'll do everything and anything just to help you! I beg of you… don't leave me!"

"If for you, that's impossible… then take me with you as you leave, Sasuke-kun." Sakura now was sobbing, literally begging of him already to stay with her.

"Until now, you're still the same." Sasuke smirked a bit, "Annoying."

Sakura gasped again. Sasuke started to walk again but Sakura walked a few steps behind him hastily to stop him, "Don't leave! If you'll leave, I'll scream really loud!"

Sakura's eyes narrowed when Sasuke was gone in a flash. She felt a breeze pass behind her and a presence as well.

"Sakura," Sasuke told her, "thank you so much…"

Sakura's eyes widened at those words. It was her first time to hear words of gratitude from him for her.

And with one hit on a vulnerable spot on her spine, her vision blacked out.

"Sasuke-kun…" were her words before she fainted.

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Sakura suddenly sat up, her breathing hastened, beads of sweat forming on her face, her heartbeat pacing, and her eyes narrowed.

She ran a hand on her face and through her hair as she closed her eyes to try to calm down.

She opened her eyes, but her vision was a bit glassy – tears have formed in her eyes. With one blink, the tears rolled down her cheeks.

She quickly wiped it away and sighed deeply. She scanned her surroundings and noticed that she was wearing a hospital gown and she was in a hospital room. It was raining outside.

She stared at the ceiling and thought, "Why did I dream of that…?"

She fell back to her bed and closed her eyes, all the while massaging her temples, "A detailed dream of that day…"

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Sasuke was seated up on his bed with his arms crossed on his chest. He was staring emotionlessly at the rain outside his windows. He was watching how the leaves of the trees were being thrashed away by the strong gusts of storm winds.

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--- FLASHBACK---

Sakura found a scalpel in the tools' drying and sterilizing area. She took it and charged Sasuke. Sasuke didn't move, surprised, Sakura only made a cut on his cheek.

Within seconds, she dropped the scalpel, realizing what she has done… and that was as soon as she saw blood on the edges of the scalpel. She looked at the man before her and saw that his cheek was bleeding.

Her eyes narrowed even more and she was running out of breath.

"I have a cut on my cheek. Heal me." He took her hand and placed it on his bleeding cheek.

He then showed to her his blood on her palm, "Look at it."

"NO!" Sakura closed her eyes as she tried to wiggle away from his hold.

"Why are you so afraid of blood?" he asked that question again.

She didn't reply… she just tried to wiggle out of his firm hold on her wrist.

"ANSWER ME!"

"Why? IT'S BECAUSE IT'S YOUR BLOOD!" Sakura finally replied, opening her eyes, "YOUR BLOOD MADE ME REALIZE THAT I WAS UNFAITHFUL!"

Sasuke just stared at her.

"Before you left Konoha, you thanked me. And I wanted to return the favor back to you by hoping for your return. And after 10 years, I stopped hoping. And just when I did, YOU have to come back! And the first thing that will slap me and will remind me that you're back… is your blood! And how I hated to see blood nowadays! I ALWAYS THINK THAT THE BLOOD I SEE IS YOURS!"

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, "You were… unfaithful?"

"I loved you and yet I gave up on it!" Sakura's tears are now forming in her eyes, "I cannot forgive myself for that!"

"Are you done?"

"W-What…?" Sakura asked.

"Are you done venting out all your frustrations on me?" he clarified.

She was silenced and he took that as a 'yes'.

"Look at your hand now." He instructed.

Her eyes hovered on her palm and she didn't panic anymore.

"I don't care if you turned yourself unfaithful." Sasuke let go of her hand and he wiped the blood off his cheek with the back of his hand, "All I know is that I won't be leaving this town anymore… Although I hate to say this, but… the truth is… you're needed here in Konoha… I hate to believe it, but… Konoha needs you."

Her glare just got stuck on the blood on her palm.

Shaking her head madly, she said, "But I am nobody… I am weak. Why would Konoha need an annoying weakling like me?"

"That's because you believe you're weak when others want you to believe you're strong because they see you strong." After saying that, Sasuke felt like he wanted to punch himself. When did he learn to say that? He just denies it, but after seeing her now, deep inside of himself, he believed she had gotten stronger.

Sakura looked straight at his Sharingan eyes. She looked away and returned her gaze at the blood on her palm.

"Are you still afraid of blood?" he asked.

She closed her eyes and sighed, wiping the blood off her hand on the robe she's wearing. She told him, "Please leave now before the authorities catch you here."

Sasuke nodded and left.

--- END OF FLASHBACK ---

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Sasuke ran a hand through his spiky raven hair and sighed inaudibly as he continued watching the storm outside.

"Why did that one feel so real?" Sasuke thought as he placed a hand on his cheek, where Sakura had cut him in the trance, "It was just an effect of the Mangekyou Sharingan, right? But why… why do I remember it so clearly?"

"YOUR BLOOD MADE ME REALIZE THAT I WAS UNFAITHFUL!" Sakura's words rang through his ears.

"I loved you and yet I gave up on it! …I cannot forgive myself for that!" now that one made Sasuke wince for a while.

"All I know is that I won't be leaving this town anymore." Now, his own words ran through his memories.

Sasuke sighed more audibly now and he stared at the floor, "Why did I say that…?"

He stood up and slid the door open. He looked at the hallways and noticed that it was empty – most probably because the hospital wasn't receiving too many patients during the stormy days.

He walked his way to the receiving desk.

"Where's Uzumaki Naruto's room." In his monotonous deep voice, it sounded more like a statement than a question.

The nurse at the receiving desk almost jumped from the sight of him.

The nurse smiled, "Mr. Uchiha Sasuke, you should go back to your room! You're not yet allowed to walk freely-"

"Where's Uzumaki Naruto's room." He said again, this time, with furrowed eyebrows. Obviously, he was getting impatient.

Later on…

Naruto was laughing hard as he was comfortably plopped on his reclined bed, watching a sitcom on the TV mounted on the wall at the corner of the room.

Then, he heard his room's door open.

"Hey- …there…" Naruto's big grin turned upside down at the sight of the Uchiha prodigy entering his room, "what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be resting in your own room?"

"I have a few questions to ask you." Sasuke simply said, "I hope you don't mind."

Naruto found the remote control to the TV and turned it off. He turned to his teammate, his 'brother', Uchiha Sasuke, with a serious face.

"Questions? About what?" Naruto asked.

"You mean about whom." Sasuke corrected.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Okay, about whom then?"

"About Sakura." Sasuke answered.

Naruto was a bit shocked when Sasuke said the name of their pink-haired teammate.

TBC…
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Naruto is a bit enraged when Sasuke decided to ask about Sakura. This reminded him of how Sai stood up for Sakura in their encounter with Sasuke in Otogakure. In the latter, Naruto was unable to control his temper and gets a bit enraged, slapping facts to Sasuke

Act 8: Wordless Thoughts

"I hope… we get him this time."
-Sai

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A/N: Ooh, Sasuke asks about Sakura! Well, nothing much has been going on, neh?

A review won't hurt a bit! It will make me feel really happy!

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I'm currently experiencing a writer's block for Unfaithful, that's why updates are slow. Chapter 10 is unfinished, and I still have to weave something to bridge some pieces of thoughts together. Hmmm… Go away writer's block!

+Releina Artemis+