Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 5

"Oh my God, you've got to read this."

I rolled my eyes at Ino's eager expression "What have you found now?"

Ino grinned and pushed the diary towards me. I looked down, and almost laughed at what I saw.

"Come on, this is hardly something to get all excited about."

Hinata leaned over my shoulder to see what all the commotion was about, and giggled slightly.

My blonde friend frowned at us "It so is something to be excited about! I mean, it's our leading parts in all this. I am not amused at how little my name is mentioned in this."

I was sorely tempted to roll my eyes again but instead I just said "Ino, you are mentioned loads of times. It's just you being a drama queen and wanting all of the attention!"

Being the proud girl she is, Ino simply sniffed and turned her head away. This made me feel guilty.

"Look, hey, I shouldn't have…" I was then interrupted.

"I'm just joking, Sakura, don't get your panties in a twist." She said, her blue eyes sparkling with laughter.

I let out a sigh of relief, then remembering the matter a hand.

"Do we really have to read this part? It isn't exactly a key event."

The hard glare I got from Ino told me my answer. I turned to my other best friend, who was smiling nervously.

"Actually, Sakura-chan, I kind of want to r-read this to. You did act quite strangely; it might be f-fun to see what you were thinking."

I gave in. I had to, and it wasn't going to kill me.

Embarrass me, yes. Physically harm me, no.

"Alright then, get on with it already."

The other two grinned in triumph and greedily looked down.

3 years ago

14th November

The day started out very normal.

Being Saturday, Ino, Hinata and I went out shopping in town.

"Ino, Christmas is more than a month away, you don't need to start shopping for it now."

"Sakura, if I needed your opinion I would have asked for it. You don't know what it's like being me, if anything I need more than a month and a bit. I have to get everyone great presents, and I have about a million cousins! After that, I've still got you guys and Chouji, and if I'm feeling really generous I might consider getting something for the lazy ass." It was here that Hinata and I shared knowing smiles; Ino would always get Shikamaru something under the pretence of 'being generous'.

"Hinata's got a bigger family than you and you don't see her freaking out!"

The shy, dark-haired girl blushed at being brought into the little fight.

"Well, Hinata's much too nice to complain about it. I seem to remember you, my dear pink-haired friend, 'freaking out' as you call it, in the week before Christmas. And that, may I remind you, was just for us and your single cousin." Ino laughed at the scowl imprinted on my face after her little speech.

"Yeah, well," I growled "Kasumi is very hard to buy for."

I was, of course, talking about my 16 year old cousin, who I was very close to.

Her Dad was my Dad's brother, and both shared the bright red hair that had given me my pink colour.

Kasumi, on the other hand, had gotten more of an orange shade of hair, but otherwise looked very similar to me.

In reality, getting Kasumi a present was quite easy; it was my other friends that were difficult.

Yes, that's right, Sasuke and Naruto.

I wanted to get them the best presents possible, and it usually ended with me completely stressed out.

But since both my two girl pals didn't know about my friendship with the two popular boys, it looked like I was making a big deal out of buying presents for a very limited amount of people.

"Sure" Ino said slyly, and for a second I thought that she knew something, but Hinata got in before I could reply.

"Come on, g-guys, I'm t-tired, can we go now?"

I smiled and agreed with her, heading out of the mall and towards the car.

Hinata's stylish and sensible navy blue BMW was always the car of our choice, as well as Hinata being the driver.

Up until recently I hadn't had my license, and Ino drove like a mad woman so we decided it would be safer just to let Hinata do her thing.

It was my turn to hold our Saturday tradition at my house, and so we headed off towards my neighbourhood.

The tradition was to go out shopping, then head to someone's home and pig out whilst watching movies all afternoon. It may seem a little sad, but hey, we weren't popular girls who had a party to go to every second.

So, as I said, it was my turn, and my parents had said that they were going away for the weekend this morning, so we would have the house all to ourselves.

So you can imagine the shock I got when I saw the light on in the kitchen.

Maybe I should explain. My Mum is an energy freak, and does everything in her power to stop wastage.

I once got grounded for a week for leaving my TV on standby. Ridiculous, I know.

When I saw that light on in the kitchen, I immediately knew someone was there, after all, my Mother would never allow a light to remain on whilst she went out.

"I thought you said no one was home, Sakura?" Ino asked curiously.

I laughed nervously while saying "Oh I bet my Dad just left the light on." Thank God I've never mentioned my parent's obsession before, even though I've been tempted to complain loads of times.

Both Hinata and Ino accepted my answer and headed towards the door. I quickly ran in front of them, and noticed that the door was already open when I put the key in.

"You two go upstairs and choose a movie; I'll go get the food." Ino nodded and headed upstairs at my suggestion, but Hinata lingered.

"Do you want any help?" She asked kindly.

"No, no, you go on." I said, my mind screaming at her to just go up the stairs.

"Are you sure?"

'Damn it Hinata! Stop being so nice!' were what my thoughts at that moment were.

What I really said was "Absolutely, now go help Ino."

When her quiet footsteps faded away upstairs, I headed towards the kitchen.

I wasn't quite sure what I would find, so I took light steps so not to be heard.

I tried to open the door silently, but it was just my luck that it creaked loudly.

I could see a figure in the room get up from the crack in the door. I was ready to attack when a deep voice stopped me.

"Sakura, you can come out, it's only me."

I breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, thank God, Sasuke. I thought that there was a murderer in here." Then it hit me.

"SASUKE?! What are you doing here?!"

"I'm babysitting. What, aren't you glad to see me?" He asked sarcastically.

"Don't be an idiot, I'm always… Hey, I don't need babysitting!!"

"Your parents seem to think you do." He said casually while sitting back down at the table to continue what he was doing. Which was eating a sliced up tomato. Yuck.

I pinched my lips together and frowned at the idea of babysitting. My parents didn't even trust me for one night!

"Well," I said quietly, almost hissing, "I don't need someone looking after me for one night, so you don't have a job!"

Sasuke just raised a dark eyebrow at me.

"Stop looking at me like that!" I wanted to stamp my foot here "It's not only that, but Ino and Hinata are here as well."

This got him slightly more interested in what I was saying, rather than focusing on his tomato.

"Tell them to go away then." He said like it was the easiest thing in the world.

"I can't do that!" I almost yelled but then remembered that I had to be quiet.

"Why not?"

"Because it's Saturday and tradition for us and we haven't had a sleep over for ages. My Mum and Dad aren't here so it is perfect! I'm not alone, so you can go home now. After all, it's you that doesn't want anyone to know we're friends." I said the last bit quite bitterly.

"You're being annoying, Sakura."

"I know, so get out of here before they see you."

"Can't."

"Why ever not?"

"Because my parents have gone with yours as well as Naruto's to this hotel or whatever and since I promised to baby-sit you, they took the house keys."

"Oh well this is just great."

"Hey Sakura, are you alright down there?" Ino's voice came from upstairs.

"Yeah, I'm fine!" I called back up.

I could hear Ino coming down the stairs, and I panicked.

I pushed Sasuke off his chair and under the counter, and then climbed on his chair myself.

I knew he would be cross with me, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Really?" Ino said as she walked into the room. She then raised her eyebrow at me.

"What are you doing?"

"Eating a tomato."

"You hate tomatoes."

"I don't anymore."

Ino wasn't convinced, but just said "Yeah, well, just remember we're going to be eating lots tonight so don't fill up. I'll help you carry some stuff."

Ino walked over to the fridge and when her head was in it I turned to Sasuke. I gestured for him to go upstairs after we'd gone, and stay in his room (one of the guest rooms he'd claimed) so he wouldn't be seen.

Although he didn't look happy about it, he nodded.

I then went to help Ino carry the food upstairs.

A few minutes after we had all settled down in my room to watch the movie Ino had chosen, I heard the sound of the door opposite the hall closing very quietly. I hadn't even heard him coming up the stairs.

Stealthy, Sasuke, real stealthy.

I thought that all my problems were over, but it was all going to get a lot worse.

First of all, about an hour into the movie, Ino suddenly goes "Sakura, who is 'us' and 'un'?"

Both Hinata and I stared at her like she was mad, which she probably was.

But then I noticed what she had in her hand: my phone.

"INO!" I shrieked "You don't go through other people's stuff like that!"

"Geez, calm down, I didn't look at your messages I was just looking at your contacts."

I then realised what she meant. When she said 'us' she meant U.S. the initial of Uchiha Sasuke, and 'un' was U.N. for Uzumaki Naruto.

This was exactly the reason why I didn't put their full names in phone in the first place.

I knew sooner or later Ino would get nosey. As always.

"They're just some people my parents know." I said, brushing it off as if it wasn't important.

Before Ino could say anything else, I heard a car drive up. I looked out of my window, and was ready to kill someone.

Namely, the Uchiha in the next room.

"I'll just go see who that is." I was talking whilst running out of the room.

"Sasuke," I spoke in a low voice "why is Naruto outside?"

The Uchiha just shrugged and said "I told you his parents had gone with ours."

I groaned "Does everyone just automatically think that when the adults go away they should crash at my place?!"

"Basically, yeah."

"SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto bellowed from downstairs.

I slapped my forehead; trust Naruto to be so loud.

I could hear the voices in the next room talking in surprise.

Hinata obviously left the bedroom and walked to the top of the stairs.

"Naruto-kun? Is that you?"

"Hinata-chan! What… a surprise to see you here!" I could almost see Naruto downstairs grinning nervously.

"Err, I'm k-kind of w-wondering t-the s-same thing." Hinata said, the stutters in her voice becoming more obvious."

Then…

Present

"Okay, that's enough of that one." I said firmly, closing the diary at the same time.

Ino whined "But Sakura, we were just getting to the best bit!" I shook my head.

"It's a long, long story and you know everything that happens after that. You just want to embarrass me."

Ino grinned cheekily "Why would I want to do that?" Ino was using her 'oh so innocent' voice.

Even Hinata was laughing. "I have to admit Sakura, seeing little, quiet Haruno Sakura yelling and then attacking the Uchiha Sasuke was something to remember."

"How do you remember it?! You passed out!"

This caused Hinata to blush "I saw a bit of it."

"Seeing you squirm while explaining the story was also good." Ino was in her evil mode.

"Yeah well, we're moving on. I think it's time."

"Are you ready?" Hinata asked, placing her hand on my arm comfortingly.

"Yes."

3 years ago

28th December

Today was officially the worst day of my life.

I am not being a drama queen either, I literally feel like my heart has been ripped out.

I have been so happy recently, I suppose because of Christmas. I was asking for a fall.

I was just browsing the shops; after all, everything is so much cheaper once Christmas is over.

Seeing Gaara and his gang was not on my agenda.

Once again, I wish that I had a car. If I did, I could've just driven past them without them even noticing me. As it was, I had to walk past them in order to get home.

I tried to keep my head down, hoping that they wouldn't recognise me as I wasn't exactly well known.

I should have known that was never going to happen. Gaara knows everyone.

"Well, what do we have here?" He said in that horribly cold voice of his.

His friends looked towards me, and grinned at each other. I tried to walk past them, but Kiba blocked my path.

"I know you; you're in my biology class. What is it, Sakuno?"

"Sakura!" I spat back, and instantly regretted it. They all just laughed at me.

"So behind that head of pink hair there's a little spunk, well, whaddya know." I couldn't tell who said that as they all were crowding in on me.

I tried to run, but Gaara grabbed my arm and pulled me into an alley off the main street. I was alone with them.

"Don't try to run; it'll only make things worse." He whispered into my ear. I was shivering with fright.

"There you guys are," a familiar voice said "Naruto can't make it 'cause he's… What's going on here?"

Sasuke had arrived. Everything was going to be okay now.

Relief flooded over me, and I was stupid to think that Gaara wouldn't notice.

He looked from me to Sasuke, saying "Hey, Uchiha, do you know this girl?"

Sasuke looked at me, and it scared me how cold and uninterested his eyes looked. He wouldn't…

"Never seen her before." My blood ran cold.

Gaara grinned and pushed me towards him. "I was going to hurt her myself, but you can do the honours. Unless… you don't want to?" Gaara was taunting him, I knew it. He wanted to see how Sasuke would react.

"I don't hit girls." Sasuke spoke again, and it seriously worried me how I was not sure what he would do.

"She can hardly be called a girl," Gaara scoffed whilst looking down at my old clothes and messy hair.

Sea-foam eyes stared at Sasuke and he turned to me instead.

I saw the punch before it hit me, but I still wasn't prepared for the pain. My green eyes looked up into Sasuke's black ones, the betrayal clearly showing in them.

Not only was the physical pain bad, but the emotional as well.

Together, I might as well have been shot instead of just punched in the stomach.

For a fleeting second, I thought I saw horror flash through Sasuke's eyes at what he had just done.

But then it was gone, and the cold façade was back.

All of his friends laughed when I sank to the floor, unable to breathe with the wind knocked out of me.

Gaara seemed satisfied, after seeing Sasuke punch me like that, you could not doubt that he had never noticed me ever before. What friend would do that?

Yeah, what friend?

I lay there on the floor for a while until the gang of boys decided to leave. I watched them walk away, and my so called 'friend' glanced around slightly before carrying on walking.

It was just proven what meant more to Sasuke: his reputation over his best friend.

So that was what all those years of friendship was worth. A punch in the stomach and a glance of remorse.

'Fine' I thought viciously 'fine'.

The Present

Silence filled the room.

My throat was burning, and it felt like there was a huge lump in it that prevented me from speaking.

Eventually, I found my voice again.

"Well, you all know what happened next. I never spoke to him again. When Naruto found out, he was so furious that he stopped talking to Sasuke as well. Before we had even graduated, Sasuke just disappeared, and I later found out from my Mother that he had gained a record deal."

"Oh, Sakura." Hinata looked at me with her white eyes and I could see the pain she was going through on my behalf.

Ino was staring at the wall, her eyes blank.

It was then I realised: I had not cried at all.

In fact, now that I had gotten over the initial pain, everything seemed to matter less.

I actually felt… happy.

So I started laughing.

"Sakura?" Hinata asked, her eyes searching mine.

"It's alright!" I laughed "for the first time in years it's actually alright!"

I couldn't describe how wonderful the feeling was, but I knew that going through the story with my friends had lightened the load.

Maybe Ino was right after all. For once.

I gathered my friends in a tight hug; I had found my closure.

Now, I was moving on.

Or at least, I thought that I was…

Longest Chapter yet! I felt really sad writing this chapter. Thank you so much to all those who reviewed, I loved every comment! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. If you're reading this please take a little of your time to place a review, it would be much appreciated.