A/N: Ow... thanks to the people who supported me! It really inspired me to write one more chapter... I hope you'll like this one as well.
It was thundering and the rain didn't seem like it was about to slow down. A new thunder made her heart stop for a few seconds. Although, she was soaking wet, her whole body ached and despite the fact that she was almost out of chakra, she still kept searching. They had been searching for two whole days, barely stopping to eat or to rest. There was no time.
She glanced over her shoulder. Shikamaru stared at her with a concentrated look. Ino looked horrified and Chouji kept glancing over his two friends.
Sakura stopped and almost slipped from the wet branches of the tree.
"Naruto!" Sakura screamed throughout the forest. 'Damn it! Where could he be.' she thought in worry.
"Sakura..." Shikimaru said stopping on her left side, "over there,"
Her green orbs followed the direction he had pointed. The pink haired girl started to tremble with tears falling down her eyes, remaining silent.
She jumped down towards the floor. Her tears were blurring what was a head of her. She heard Ino gasp from behind her but paid no mind to her.
"No..." she whispered quietly as she stared at Naruto body.
He was covered in blood, his stomach revealed a deep wound. She noticed that the wound had been deeper and that the fox chakra had tried to repair it, to heal it. But in vain.
She heard footsteps and immediately tensed.
The black hair and the crimson eyes gave him away immediately.
"Why...why Sasuke? WHY?!" Sakura's voice rose from a whisper to a shriek. She couldn't understand why he had done this. His voice broke her from her transfix.
"Because I wanted to break any bonds left with him and now...I will break the bonds that you and I shared, Sakura," Sasuke calmly spoke as he launched a kunai at super speed that went straight through her skull.
The pink haired girl sat up in her bed in a cold sweat. Her green eyes looked around her room alarmed but then a soft sigh left her lips as she realized it had been just a dream.
"Just a dream..." she said yanking the blankets away.
As her toes reached the cold floor she started ranting on every bad word she knew. Making sure she didn't wake up her parents, she quickly dressed herself and picked a long coat and left the house. She stared at the starry sky and smiled. She loved the stars, the way they looked over them, as if they were gracing everyone with their mere presence.
As she walked through the empty streets she wondered what she should do. She considered going over Ino's house like the old times, when they would sneak out and get together just to have girly conversations, which most of them included a special Uchiha. However those old times were over. Sure they were friends, but they had different priorities now.
She could go and sneak into Naruto's house like she did every now and then when she had these dreams. She did it just to check on him...to make sure he was okay, at least that is what she keeps telling herself.
She could also go and train by herself but she didn't feel like it.
A few minutes went by and she still hadn't decided what to do. That was when she realized where her feet had dragged her to.
The hospital.
She walked through the empty corridors until she arrived to his room. Room Seven. How ironic was that?
She stared at the door for a while; images of their last encounter still hurt her. What had he been thinking? If Naruto hadn't found him in time... he would have died. The burnings, his broken ribs. He didn't seem worried at all. She frowned.
Did he... did he want to die? She shook her head. Of course he didn't. He still had a reason to live and it pained her that that reason was his brother, Uchiha Itachi. It pained her that she and Naruto weren't enough... enough to make him stay and make him happy.
Sighing, she opened the door and closed it as silent as she could. It was dark but she still could see his form on the bed.
She walked closer and stopped as she noticed someone sleeping on the chair next to his bed.
"Naruto-kun," she whispered eye-widened.
Even after all he went through, Naruto never gave up. He had managed somehow to forgive Sasuke; he was willing to make everything okay. A guilty strange feeling went through her spine.
"I'm… I-I'm sorry,"
The pink haired girl smiled a sad smile, "It's too late… Sasuke... too late,"
It was too late to take those words back now. She wouldn't go back on her word. She had a new life and that new life didn't include him. She wasn't like Naruto. She couldn't… she couldn't allow it to happen again. She had sworn that she wouldn't allow Sasuke Uchiha to hurt her again.
His eyes twitched as he began to awake from his dream or was it a nightmare? As he slowly opened his eyes to the white ceiling of the hospital room, he realized that the sunlight was plaguing his face. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall at the front of his bed. '10a.m.,' he thought.
As he tried to move his bandaged hands to rub is eyes, he felt one of them tangled in something, in some what of a grip. He glanced down and a frown slowly crept onto his bandaged face. There lay a blond haired boy resting on a forearm lying on his hospital bed, as he lay slumped over his chair, with his right hand griping his bandaged left.
His face twisted in pain for some seconds but he suddenly concealed it as the blonde started to wake.
"Uhmm, S-Sakura..."
"I'm not Sakura you dobe! Let go!" said Sasuke as he tried to pull part of his bandage.
"Uh? W-what your on about?" asked Naruto now fully awake.
"Never mind," said Sasuke annoyed, "What are you doing here?"
Naruto blue eyes fell on his friend wonderingly. Wasn't it obvious why he was there? Shrugging it off the blond grinned, "Hey Sasuke, do you want some breakfast?"
Sasuke wanted to tell him to leave him the hell alone but his stomach begged to differ.
"Hn," he nodded and a grinning Naruto stood up.
"Alright! I'll be back with the best breakfast you've ever had!" said Naruto enthusiastically.
"I hope you're not cooking, baka,"
Sasuke black eyes remained on Naruto until he disappeared of his eye sight. He did never change. His old friend persistence to maintain their bonds was remarkable... almost touching.
Suddenly he tensed as he heard her loud voice.
"NARUTO! ARGHH,"
Maybe Naruto wasn't the only one who didn't change at all. A few seconds a tired Sakura entered the room.
Her emerald eyes locked with his, "Uhm, how are you feeling?" she asked with an indifferent tone. However, her eyes betrayed her. He could see worry in them.
"Just fine," he answered quietly.
"I take it that Romi-chan has taken care of that bath," his face became horrified and she laughed, "at least you don't stink anymore,"
When he didn't respond, Sakura merely started to prepare some medicine with the very same herbs that Tsunade had gave her.
"Here, take this," she said offering him a cup filled with an odd green-brownish colour. Sasuke face remained still as he eyed it with interest, then with one gulp he drank it all.
"It will accelerate the healing process," she said as she placed the cup back on the small table, "Let's take the bandages off,"
He glared at her but she didn't seem bothered, "If you want to get healed properly, you need to take them off," Sasuke took the bandages off and Sakura eyed his burnings. They needed one more session to make the burned skin to disappear and make a new one take its place. She took a deep breathe and her hands immediately released green chakra.
She started to work on the most critical areas while Sasuke eyed her intently. Though the pink haired girl didn't know, he had seen her last night. He wondered why they were so stubborn to keep him here. If they actually thought he would stay for them this time... they were being foolish.
"There, good as-"
"BREAKFAST!" a loud voice interrupted Sakura.
Naruto stopped on the door with two packages on his arms. His blue eyes fell on the pink haired girl then on his injured friend.
"Hi Sakura-chan..." he said somewhat hesitantly. This was the first time the three had been together since a long time ago, "I would have bought you breakfast too if I knew you'd be coming,"
"Naruto I already ate," she answered smiling at the blond, "what did you buy?" she asked suddenly curious.
"Muffins!" he answered and smiled back at her. Sasuke couldn't help but to feel misplaced.
"Ugh," said Sakura, "You know... I hate muffins,"
Naruto eyes widened, "What?!" he asked dumbfounded, "Sakura-chan how can you say that?"
She shrugged her shoulders as she stopped her chakra, "I just hate them, with a passion. I declare war on all muffins of the world!"
"Nooo!" said Naruto hiding the packages on his back, "S-t-a-y a-w-a-y from my muffins!"
"Please! I'm really hungry," said Sasuke quite annoyed. Both of them stared at Sasuke and chuckled.
"Sorry," said Naruto as he threw one of the packages at him.
Sakura and Naruto stood side by side, staring at their old friend as he opened the package and examined the muffins.
"They're not poisoned," said Sakura with a smirk.
"With that dobe around, you're never too careful,"
"Hey! I resent that!"
Sakura stood still as Naruto took the chair next to Sasuke bed. They were both eating their muffins with a content look on their faces. At least Naruto seemed the most content as he ate his muffins or more like assassinated them.
Somehow watching them both relaxed her. It brought her a small sensation of peace. However that little sensation vanished quickly.
Tsunade-sama stood at the door with a serious face.
"Sakura, Naruto," Both of them regarded her with a curious expression, "Kakashi is waiting for you outside. I need to be alone with Sasuke-kun,"
Sakura nodded immediately and left the room without looking back at Sasuke. Naruto finished his muffin and smiled at his friend, "I'll see you later Sasuke-kun!"
"Hey Sakura-chan, wait up!" Naruto yelled as he approached Sakura and Kakashi-sensei, "I wonder what does grandma-tsunade want from Sasuke..."
As the blond stopped he noticed the grave look on Sakura's expression, "Naruto..." her voice broke into a whisper, "Sasuke-kun... he will..."
Kakashi noticed she wouldn't be able to break the bad news to the blond boy.
"Sasuke will have to go through a trial... that's the normal proceedings for the missing-nins,"
Naruto eyes widened in horror, "B-but..."
"He left..." said Sakura swallowing dry and faced Naruto, "He left us... not only us but his village,"
"Yes, but-"
"There is no buts Naruto-kun," she said, her voice sounded weird to her own ears, "it's not only the fact that he left the village, its the fact that he joined forces with Orichimaru... the one who was behind the third Hokage death, in case you've forgotten!"
Naruto ears couldn't actually believe in what he was hearing. Kakashi on the other hand stared at his old apprentice with new eyes. He didn't recognize this Sakura, this pink haired girl that stood in front of him.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked shaking his head.
Sakura opened her mouth to speak but Naruto beat her to it, "Don't even bother to say one more word," and with that he left the hospital and she couldn't do much but to stare at her friend with tears forming in her green orbs.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Kakashi-Sensei.
"Sakura..." his voice was calm and understanding, "I know what you're trying to do, but in the end it will hurt much more... believe me,"
A/N:
Please let me know how I did and review!
Love and hugs—