Waiting on a Cherry Blossom- Chapter 3, Part 1 ~Sakura~: Happiness and Sorrow…

I slumped down to my knees. I was so happy; the happiest I've even been in my life as a ninja. Or more like since Sasuke rejected me. Tears of pure joy streamed down my porcelain colored cheeks in the light of the setting sun.

Edward ran over to me, and knelt down before me, then hugging me tightly.

I…I'm so glad you're here now," I whispered into his ear.

Me too," he responded, hugging me just a bit tighter.

He pulled away from the embrace for just a moment as he examined my tearstained face. His deep golden eyes met mine. I flushed red.

"You are Haruno Sakura, right?" Edward said with a slight laugh.

"Y…yeah, of course I am! Who else?" I replied joyfully with a large smile.

CHAA!! THIS GUY IS SO DAMN HOT!! CHAA!!!! Inner Sakura raged.

Edward stood up, and held out a gloved right hand to help me up. I took it, noticing his hand was rather stiff and hard. I ignored that fact though, and decided to enjoy this important moment to its full potential. I stood up, with the help of Edward, and tried to smile real cute.

"Yo, Alphonse!" Edward yelled over his shoulder to the suit of armor holding his traveling trunk. "Come'ere a sec! I want you to meet her!"

"Coming!" The armor yelled. His voice sounded like that of one of a younger boy; ten or eleven at that. Alphonse came over, towering over Edward by a few feet.

"Pleased to meet you!" Alphonse said politely and respectfully.

"Pleased to meet you also!" I replied with a grin. I held out my hand, and Alphonse took it, giving a fair handshake.

"This is my younger brother, Alphonse," Edward said gesturing over his shoulder at Al behind him. I smiled at both of them. I was just so overjoyed and happy then, I just couldn't help but smile so much.

Ba-Dump!

My head began to spin. A rush of nausea hit me, and I fell. I hit the warm ground, and heard people rushing to my aid and gathering around me. The last thing I heard was:

"S-Sakura!"

I blacked out.

"Are you happy now, Haruno Sakura? You've met your Edward-kun, now you must play a little game with me…"

A game? What kind of game?

"You'll find that out soon enough. But…I warned you before didn't I?"

Warned me about what? And tell me about this game!

"Not to fall in love with Edward Elric? No? Or did you just intentionally ignore me? Oh well, you fell in love with him anyway so the warning's useless now…"

W-What?!

"Oh…and about that game... It's the kind of game nobody wins…"

"What'd you do to her?!"

"I swear I didn't do anything, alright?!"

My eyes slowly flickered open at the loud sound of voices around me. Looking down at me was Edward and Alphonse. In the background, I heard a familiar chime of a large grandfather clock.

"She- She's awake!"

"Hunh? Oh! Sakura, are you okay?!"

I sat up, my head pounding painfully, and gazed around at the room, then looked at the two brothers next to me. "Where are we?"

"We're at your house," Edward said with a smile. "Nice place you got here!"

I laughed despite my weariness, "Thanks."

That night, Edward and Alphonse stayed at my house. I occasionally got up after both had fallen asleep. I couldn't sleep knowing the fact the boy I loved, the boy I fell in love with through dreams, was in my living room! My mind was racing with thoughts, and they filled my ability to sleep to the brim. I was just too excited for the next day to break dawn.

After what seemed of hours of lying in my cool room, staring at the ceiling, I had decided on something. I sat up and walked downstairs to where Edward and Alphonse slept. I knelt on the floor behind Edward's sleeping head and watched him quietly in the dim light of the living room. I smiled and laid my hand on his forehead. Edward didn't stir, but I pulled back nonetheless.

You're being a stalker Sakura. Just let him sleep, you've had enough excitement for one day.

And with that sleepy thought, I tiptoed back to my room, and finally, and contently, fell asleep.

"Good morning, Edward-kun!!" I said cheerfully as Edward and his brother walked into the kitchen. I was helping my mom make breakfast, as making for more than two was a bit more work.

"Morning!" Edward replied with the same cheery tone. He sat down at the breakfast table, and Alphonse sat right across from him. He's still wearing that armor? The kitchen was mixed with the smells of eggs, toast, waffles, and the citrusy fruitiness of freshly squeezed orange juice. I looked over at Edward who was sniffing the air. "Smells really good!"

"Thank you!" my mom said, walking steadily, careful not to drop any of the several plates she had in her hands. "I'll just tell you this right out; my cooking has been known to be as good as it smells!" She boasted, slowly laying the plates down on the large kitchen table.

"Dig in!"

"Thanks for the food!" Edward and Alphonse both said cheerily.

"You know," Mom said, turning her head toward me, "I really like this boy you brought home, kiddo! He's a real cutie at that!"

I flushed red. It was true that I did love Edward with all my heart, but in some way, I still felt a little jealous by others complementing him.

"You should eat too, you know," my mom added, "I need my sweet flower to get her food!" She smiled. And I sat down with both Edward and Alphonse, eating breakfast, and enjoying every minute of it.

I checked myself in the mirror. My new kunoichi outfit was a bit much for today, but I felt like showing it off. It was a silk red top, with my clan symbol on the sleeves, back, and on the left side of the chest. A white lining went around the bottom of the shirt, as well as around the top of the rounded collar. I wore a black skirt, as well as fishnet sleeves that went to my elbows beneath my top, and leggings that went to the middle of my thighs. I wore my ninja headband with Konoha's symbol, the leaf, embedded in the metal. The leaf was Konoha's symbol due to our village's other names: The village hidden in the leaves, the hidden leaf village, and the full name of Konohagure.

I slipped on the new boots I had bought the previous day, grabbed my purse, and went downstairs to say goodbye to my mom. For I was going out to talk to the fifth Hokage, and I was hoping she could help me with something.

"Mom, I'm going out, okay?" I called from the front door, one hand grasping the doorknob.

"Alright!" I heard her call back from the kitchen. The sound of running water was also coming from there. She must be doing all the plates from this morning…

"Sakura!"

I turned to see Edward standing there, a little confused. "Where are you going this early?"

"Oh, I um… I'm just going out for a while, okay?" I smiled innocently. "Could you meet me at the training grounds later?"

"Where's that?"

"Ask any of the ninja's around town, they wear a headband like this one," I pointed to the ninja headband that I wore on the crown of my head. Edward nodded, and I left to go see Lady Tsunade, the fifth Hokage.

I walked out into the training grounds, the dry grass crunched under my feet as I walked to the monument that gave tribute to all of the ninjas who died fighting the nine-tailed fox.

I looked around, not seeing Edward anywhere; I started to wonder if he got lost. Sakura… you're such a baka. Of course he got lost! He's only been in Konoha for one day! But before I had completely lost hope, I heard Edward's voice from farther out into the grounds.

"ASSHOLE!! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Edward yelled, his voice echoing.

"What am I doing? More likely I should ask you, what are you doing here? This is a training ground for ninjas only, not for sorry losers who are out for a walk," Sasuke Uchiha replied with a tone of anger arising in his voice.

As I ended up probably causing this argument by telling Edward to meet me here, I felt as if I had no other choice then to eavesdrop. I sat patiently behind a bush so I could quietly and unnoticeably observe this argument in good view until the end of it. I'm guessing Edward and Sasuke don't like each other then…

Their argument continued on:

"I'm here for a reason!"

"Yeah, and what might that be, you short loser."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY EMO BOY?!?!"

I sighed remorsefully. I had a feeling something like this would happen. I looked up at the two, Edward in a fighting stance, and Sasuke just standing there with his hands tightly in his pockets. I thought I saw a glint of red in his eyes, and that worried me. Oh no… please Sasuke don't pull an attack on him…

When Sasuke released the sharingan, it usually meant he was trying to scare someone off, or he was about to fight. I had no idea which he was going to pull, but Edward's sudden lunge at him had exposed the answer into clear sight.

"AIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIYAAAA!!!!!!!!!!"

As Edward was about to punch him, Sasuke grabbed his left fist and drew his arm around behind his back. Sasuke smirked, and Edward didn't even flinch.

Sasuke pulled Edward's arm up even further behind his back and yet he seemed to not even feel it. Edward grabbed Sasuke's arm with his right hand and tightened his grip greatly, and I heard Edward give a pitied laugh, while Sasuke's eyes widened in pain and fear. He slowly released Edward, stepping back. What? What is he doing?

"W-what is this?! What are you?!" the Uchiha gulped. I had never seen Sasuke like this since the forest of death. Edward stood up straight, his back facing Sasuke.

"A human…just like you are. But I'm just a little different." Edward said, holding his right hand in left, and then walking away. After a few steps, he turned. He looked sternly at Sasuke, a revengeful look in his golden eyes.

Edward swiftly brought his hands together, and quickly placed them both on the ground at his feet. The air seemed to contract around him, creating a bright electric blue light. The earth formed into a large fist, and shot towards Sasuke, striking him in the gut. He coughed painfully.

"That's for when you called me short, you emo bastard."

Edward turned, and strode away, a sense of pride in his step.

I sat there behind that bush, still unnoticed, staring in shock at the giant fist shaped earth that was protruding from the ground in front of Sasuke.

After what seemed like hours of searching for Edward after his encounter with Sasuke, I finally found him bent over with one hand holding onto a tree trunk for support. He must have been looking for me… I felt badly that I probably had made Edward run around the unfamiliar training grounds with no idea where he was. I walked up to Edward, who was rubbing his shoulder as if in pain.

"Edward-kun?" I said in a small voice, and even being quiet made him jump in surprise.

"S-Sakura!" Edward said, spinning around. "Where were you?! I was looking all over for you—"

"I know... I'm so sorry, Edward-kun…" I apologized. I knew how hard it was to navigate through these training grounds, for I had even gotten lost when I was first starting out as a ninja.

"Nah… it's okay," Edward said, and I could hear his footsteps on the dry grass approaching me. I looked up to see him take off his outer red coat, and throw it over his shoulder. "You said you wanted to meet me out here, right? What was it? Did you wanna tell me something?"

"Um…" I managed nervously. My conversation with the fifth Hokage, Lady Tsunade, from earlier today had resurfaced in my mind.

"Um… Lady Tsunade-sama…" I said, twiddling my fingers in my lap and looking down.

"Yes, Sakura? You said this was urgent, so what's all the urgency for?"

"Um… would it be possible for me to take some days off from training? Or from missions at that? Something's come up that needs my attention…"

"What?! What's so important that you'll ignore your duties as a full-fledged ninja?!"

"I…its personal, Tsunade-sama…"

"Pssht! Fine!! Take your days off, but you'll be making them up double time for all the time you're off!"

"Um… well you see…" I whispered.

As Edward stood before me now, he put his hand on my shoulder. But giving a sharp yelp of pain made him pull back, grabbing his left shoulder.

"You're shoulder! Are you okay, Edward-kun?" I shouted apprehensively as I put my hand on his shoulder.

"Ow…Yeah, I'm fine. Just my shoulder…hurts so badly."

After a minute of silence, I put on a serious face.

"Sit down!" I ordered him.

I pushed him down into the ground and began to massage his shoulders. Edward glared up at me, annoyed at why I had done this.

I had noticed something right after I began, his right shoulder…was as firm as steel. I looked down at him. He looked shameful in a way.

"You…your shoulder is…so hard?" I whispered.

"Yea…I know… "Edward replied, a saddened tone in his voice.

I narrowed my eyes at him. He was hiding something, I could definitely tell.

"Take off your coat. "

"What?! No!"

"DO IT!"

"NO!!"

"DO IT BAKA!!"

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!!"

RIIIIPP!!

I gasped in shock; Edward's torn sleeve in my clenched hand. Edward's arm is….metal...

Edward pulled away. I stared at him through wide eyes.

"What…what did you do…?" I said with horror. I had never seen anything like this before. Someone's entire arm made of metal? I wasn't scared, but I was petrified, still holding Ed's torn sleeve.

"We…tried to bring our mom back; Al and I. We preformed a forbidden taboo in alchemy. I lost my right arm and my left leg, while Alphonse lost his entire body…"

Edward looked up into my face. "Are you scared?"

"No."

Edward walked up to me and held his metal hand to my cheek. The cool steel against my skin felt nice in the afternoon heat of summer. "It feels nice…" I whispered with a small smile on my lips.

"You're not scared, hunh? But you should be…" Edward said, pulling his hand away and shifting his look away from my face. "I only realized now, I cause pain to others around me. Those I love get hurt because of me. I'm sorry, but you should be scared of me Sakura-chan."

And with that said, Edward pulled his torn sleeve from my clenched hand, and walked away; looking back only to most likely see my face, with my saddened yet solemn stare fading away into tears. He mouthed an "I'm sorry…" and left me to stand there and weep in the afternoon heat.

Waiting on a Cherry Blossom- Chapter 3, Part 2 ~Edward~ Are We Just Friends?

It was painful, walking away. But I had told Sakura the hard out truth. Every time I get close to someone, they get hurt because of our bond. I turned to see Sakura, standing there, her grief barrier broken, all because of me.

I mouthed a silent "I'm Sorry…"

Great… another person got hurt because of me… it's all my fault… I thought. I fixed my torn sleeve right outside the training grounds, and walked back to Sakura's house, tormenting myself mentally every step of the way.

I slammed the front door to Sakura's house as I entered.

"Welcome back brother!" Alphonse greeted me as I slumped down on the living room couch. I stared down miserably at my hands… I wanted to leave Konoha; I wanted to ditch this place for good; so I couldn't hurt Sakura again.

"Al… we're leaving this village," I whispered. I glanced up at him then away. I felt so awful about hurting Sakura; I didn't mean to. She probably despised me for leaving her there. I stood up, and started stuffing my things into my trunk. "Come on, we're leaving now."

"But Ed. What about Sakura? You just got here and—"

"I know Al!" I snapped, whirling around. "I know… just…" I looked away.

"Did something happen, brother?" I explained everything that had happened while I was out; from Sakura seeing my Automail, to walking away and leaving her crying. Alphonse stared downward at the floor the whole time, as if sickened by the result of my reaction. "How did you hurt yet another person Ed?!"

I stopped, and was silent for some time. I stood there, paused, now hovering over my trunk, which was half-way packed, with nothing organized in the least; and Al, standing behind me. The silence of the hushed room had begun to gnaw at me when I finally replied regretfully, hanging my head, "It wasn't my fault."

"It wasn't your fault?! How was it not your fault?! You left a girl who loves you with all her heart, heartbroken because you were too guilty to face the facts—"

"Shut up!!" I interjected in the middle of his rant, yelling loud enough to make Al draw back a step, and I pointed to the front door where Sakura stood. Knowing that I had noticed her now, she sprinted up the stairs to her room where she slammed the door with a loud "BANG!" Everything was silent for a long while after that. I continued to pack my trunk.

"I'm not leaving Konoha, Ed," Alphonse muttered, finally breaching the dreadful silence. "You can leave, but I'm staying here."

I spun around, stunned, "What? No, you can't stay here! I'm your older brother and I can't leave you behind, Al!"

"I'm staying. You leave if you want to Ed, you're not getting me to go anywhere," Al replied with a harsh, stubborn tone. I could tell by his attitude, that he meant what he said, even if it meant making me irritated.

"If that's what you want, fine," I slammed my trunk shut and carried it over to the front door. "Well, goodbye then Alphonse," and with a sigh, I left.

With long strides, I approached the village gate. I gazed at the large structure of it, and then with memories of yesterday pouring back into my mind, I walked away from Konoha. Away from the village the girl I loved resided in. Away from the village my own brother refused to leave. "Goodbye," I whispered under my breath.

Walking down the forest path that Al and I had traveled not two days ago, a thought constantly kept appearing in my mind: Are me and Sakura just friends? Soon I heard faint running footsteps coming from behind me, and I turned to see a boy dashing to catch up to me. He had spiky blond hair, with one of Konoha's ninja headbands tied around his forehead. He had marks on his face that looked like whiskers; and he wore a bright orange jumpsuit, which had to be the strangest thing I've ever seen someone wear in public. This boy slid to a stop right in front of me, and bent over panting heavily.

"Yo, you okay?" I said, leaning down to try to meet his head.

In a slightly hoarse voice, he replied loudly, "Of course I'm all right! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna be the 6th Hokage! I'm always all right!!" With this proud line, Naruto leaped to a superhero stance. "And I know who you are!! You're Edward Elric aren't you?! Aren't you?!"

This kid Naruto freaks me out. Honestly, how did he know my name in the first place? "Uhhh, yeah that's me," I said, a little frightened of this kid who called himself Naruto. "Who's askin'?"

Naruto stared at me, obviously amazed by something. Right then I could tell that this kid was a pain in the ass. And hopefully he wouldn't be a pain in mine.

"I'm your biggest fan!!" Naruto suddenly shouted gleefully. "Hey! Do you really have Automail? Can I see it? Please! Oh! And what's Winry like? Is she cute? Can I see your State Alchemist pocket watch?" His bombardment of questions overwhelmed me, and I swear I was speechless. Then I realized I never met this kid before. Yet how does he know so much about me? And about Winry and my Automail? A final question was asked that left me a little annoyed. "Where's Al?"

"You are annoying aren't you? And to answer all your nosy questions, yes I have Automail, no you may not see it, why do you want to know, don't ask me in the first place, and for the final time NO," I hadn't answered his final question about Al since I had no idea in the least how to put the answer into words. "And how did you know all that stuff about me in the first place?!"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out!" Naruto said mockingly. "Oh hey, by the way, do you like Sakura Haruno?"

"Why're you askin'?!" I yelped nervously, and I think I blushed a bit.

"Because I have the perfect idea on how to see if she's still loves you or not!"