SPOILERS!
Beware, there are spoilers for some of the latest Naruto manga chapters in JUMP below. Proceed at your own risk.
Title: BEWARE SPOILERS!
Rating: PG-13 for angstiness.
Characters: Sakura x SOMEBODY
Word Count: 830
Summary: We all need somebody to love.
Author's Notes: Seriously, who didn't see this coming?
Sakura was depressed.
This week bit, hardcore. First Naruto came back, hauling Sasuke's corpse and telling everyone that Jiraiya and Orochimaru had both died in a magnificent fireball of chakra that eliminated most of the Village of Sound. Sakura had felt bad, but seriously, Sasuke had been gone for three years and she was starting to fall for Naruto. She cried, but she could handle it.
Then Tsunade, her mentor, declaring the crisis averted, had quit her job as Hokage and disappeared. Not even Shizune knew where she had gone. That left Sakura feeling even worse, of course. Sure, she could continue her training as a medical ninja, but she had been Tsunade's personal apprentice, and the old hag had just left her hanging in the wind like this. That bitch.
Of course, it only got worse when Naruto told her he'd decided to shack up with Hinata. That was just cold. The two-timer. He got Sakura to like him, and what? He went off and cheated on her with that stupid white-eyed freak! Sakura didn't know what ever possessed her to think Naruto was worthy of her affection. He was a cold, heartless liar. And he had killed her Sasuke. She hated him.
That didn't leave Sakura with a lot of people to turn to. Ino, of course, had been dead for nearly a year now, thanks to that insane incident with Shikamaru and the snakes. Shikamaru was still in the hospital, even after all this time, and with Tsunade having run away, it looked like he might never recover now.
There was Lee, of course. But even though Sakura had tried staying friends with him, it was harder since Lee and Neji had officially come out of the closet and started living together. I mean, she understood, they had been through a lot, fighting Kabuto together. But she just couldn't quite look at Lee the same anymore. Of course Gai-sensei kept going on about the beauty of youth everywhere he went now, louder than ever, and that didn't help matters for Sakura. Every time she managed to push the incident to the back of her mind, there was Gai-sensei. "Sakura! Don't you think it's wonderful, Lee and Neji! The springtime of youth! I'm so happy they're together now! They're such pretty boys!"
Tenten was, needless to say, inconsolable. Which meant she wasn't going to listen to Sakura's problems.
Sakura had tried talking to Kakashi, she really had. But the man wasn't the same since he'd lost his sharingan. He was darker, moodier. Not the playful, supportive Kakashi she had known all those years ago. Talking with him just didn't comfort Sakura anymore. He said he was thinking about rejoining ANBU. Sakura hoped he did. An ANBU mask would cover upthe scarred face he'd gottensaving Naruto from the Akatsuki.
So Sakura was quite depressed when Chouji knocked on the door to her apartment. She wiped the tears from her eyes and let the thin young man inside. The incident with Ino and Shikamaru had changed him, too. He was all determination now, not the slow, pudgy boy everyone had laughed at in school. Ever since the snakes, it seemed like he was trying to live three lives rather than one. He trained every day, harder than anyone in the village. He had mastered Shikamaru's shadow techniques as well as Ino's mind-control. Everyone knew how much he had been in love with Ino, everyone except Ino herself. And he would never have the chance to tell her now. His own face was filled with sadness as he stepped into Sakura's room.
An irresistible force seemed to grip Sakura, and she found herself throwing her arms around him, clinging to him as she sobbed. Her body trembled like a leaf in the wind as Chouji gently lifted her and brought her back to her bed. "Shhhh... Sakura... It's okay. Cry all you need to." He hadn't been expecting this reaction to his arrival. He had just wanted to talk with Sakura about the possibility of forming a new team. So many of the old genin were gone now, and they had to try to carry on. But Chouji knew it must be harder for Sakura than any of the others. With so many of her friends, and so many of the men she had loved dead, gone, or changed beyond recognition... Chouji's losses seemed so small in comparison. He opened his mouth to say something comforting, but before he could get out words, Sakura was kissing him, deeply, passionately.
It was the first time Chouji had ever been kissed, and his eyes widened in surprise as it happened. But gradually, he found himself relaxing into the kiss. Sakura didn't seem to want to stop. Chouji could understand. She had been through so much. She just needed some simple human contact. He pulled her closer and caught her in a tight embrace, tears rolling down his cheeks as he returned her kiss.
I don't own Naruto. Sometimes I wish I did though. I dream about those wonderful days when all rights to the property would be mine. My fanfics would be publishable as a for-profit enterprise. I would rake in royalties by the bucketful. Everything about the world would be great. If I only had the rights. Let me indulge in a song:
I could while away the hours
Writin' all about their powers
And scriptin' classic fights.
And my head, I'd be scratchin'
While my thoughts were busy hatchin'
If I only had the rights.
For every little genin
I'd find for them an aijin
To help them pass the nights.
With the pairings I had wrote, Oh!
I'd be another Kishimoto,
If I only had the rights.