Oh shoot. I'm one day late. Lol. Well I honestly thought that I was supposed to update today, but it turns out I was supposed to update yesterday. This chapter... was actually not that hard to write. I have the next 3 chapters planned and I just need to sit at my computer and write the actual chapters. This one isn't as long as the last one, but I'm planning on updating sooner. Hope that makes up for it.
-I Don't Own Naruto-
Chapter 5: Leave Me Alone
I woke up in an unfamiliar place. My head hurt and everything was swirling. I saw a bit a black, grey, and blonde. Everything started clearing up slowly. Finally I saw everyone's faces. Kakashi's and Sasuke's held no emotion, but Naruto's looked different. It wasn't bright but it held something else. It looked saddened.
"Good you're awake. Care to tell us what's going on?" Kakashi looked over at me as he spoke.
"No, now let me go." I didn't want to talk to anyone. In fact, I didn't see what there was to talk about.
"Sakura. We need to know what's going on." His voice was now firm.
"Nothing's going on. I don't know what you're talking about." I turned to my right away from everyone. I was about to go for the door but when I tried to walk my legs failed me and I fell.
Naruto ran over reached over the help me up but I slapped his hand away.
"I don't need any help." I got back up and tried to walk again. I was about to start running but Kakashi caught me.
"Just tell us why you've been acting so differently."
"Don't touch me!" I screamed and turned around to punch him in the face but he caught my fist.
"Sakura, calm down." His voice was firm but still stayed at the same volume.
"Get away from me I just want to be alone!" I took my other hand and tried to punch him again but he just caught it. I finally gave up and fell to the floor crying.
"Sakura-chan…" Naruto came over to me and put his arm around me.
"Go away. Just leave me alone." I spoke with spaces between my words.
"Tch. What a waste of time." Sasuke began walking out the door and Naruto backed away from me.
"Naruto, go home. I'll take care of Sakura. Don't worry." I could tell Naruto wanted to stay with me, but he left and I heard the door close. Kakashi crouched over and looked at me just like in the training ground. "What would you like me to do?"
"…Nothing. Just let me leave."
"Are you Hungry?"
"No."
"Thirsty?"
"No."
"Let's get you home then."
"I can get there by myself. I'm not a kid."
"Let's go." Kakashi ignored me and pulled me off the ground. No one spoke the whole way to my house.
When we arrived I took out my key and opened the door. Before getting in I politely thanked Kakashi for taking me home and closed the door. I felt hungry again, but I didn't want to eat. I wasn't as sad as I used to be when I thought of my mom, but the pain was still there. I opened the refrigerator to find nothing. I looked in the cabinets and they were empty. There was nothing to eat. I finally thought that it would be good because I wouldn't gain any weight. I was too busy thinking about my mom I forgot all about my diet. 'My diet… how much weight have I lost since last time…?'
I ran over to the scale putting my hand against the wall for balance once I got in the bathroom. I almost jumped on the scale and waited for the numbers to pop up.
"79… At this rate… I won't be…" I flopped down sitting on the cold tiles of the bathroom. "I can do better… I haven't been training that much either… how am I going to be strong? I keep telling myself I'm going to do something, but I never do it... That's all going to change." I stood up but instead of getting ready to sleep I went to train.
I trained past my limit but I still kept going. By the time I was finished I could barely move. My chest lifted and flattened as I was breathing. I was fighting my eyes to stay open but I was too tired and they drooped closed.
I began waking up when I heard Naruto and Sasuke talking.
"What happened to Sakura?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know. I found her like this." Sasuke spoke the same way as always, emotionlessly.
I opened up my eyes and blinked a few times before my vision became clear. When I sat up I was greeted by Naruto throwing his arms around me in a tight hug.
"I can't breathe." I spoke with a raspy voice but Naruto let go immediately.
"You had me worried Sakura-chan!" He was practically yelling as loud as he could in my ear. I just stood up and walked away towards the bridge. Naruto started running after me but Sasuke stopped him and pulled him back. I couldn't hear their conversation very well, but I didn't think I needed to worry about it. Naruto would scream out disagreeing with Sasuke every now and then but finally approved.
Kakashi found us all separated in different parts of the bridge. Naruto was keeping himself busy kicking and punching the tree a few times. Sasuke was on the opposite side of the bridge then me.
"Kakashi-sensei! You're late!" Naruto turned around and pointed a finger at Kakashi. Training was going normal for the most part. It seemed more like when we first became genin. Naruto was ranting about something unimportant, and Sasuke was being quiet as usual. I saw that Naruto and Sasuke were looking back at each other throughout training. Kakashi was off somewhere reading 'icha icha' and I was trying to ignore Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto's endless talking was getting on my nerves and I knew they noticed it. I hit the trees harder then I usually would and Naruto would keep talking. Kakashi kept looking up from his book with a raised eyebrow and nodded at Sasuke when their eyes met.
Naruto wouldn't stop talking and I came up behind him and nailed him hard on the head. "Naruto-baka! Shut up already! You're annoying!" He fell unconscious and I slumped against a tree rubbing my temples. "Finally…" I muttered to myself.
"Sakura." Sasuke looked over to me.
"What." I answered sharply.
"Fight me. You're stronger now." Sasuke changed his stance into an offense.
I stood up and looked at him. "Fine." I took a defensive stance and he lunged at me with a kunai in hand.
I pulled a kunai from my pouch and jumped at him to block off the attack. We both went backwards and I slipped slightly. I tried to catch my balance so I didn't notice the three shuriken coming my way. I blocked two of them before they hit me and tried to move away. I was barely out of the way before the third shuriken hit me, and it slit my arm causing blood to drip slowly. I lunged at Sasuke this time and tried to nail him with taijutsu. He blocked my foot and I twisted to punch him in the gut. He blocked my hand too and threw me back. I was breathing hard now and Sasuke was barely sweating. I threw my kunai at him and he caught it and threw it back so it would only cut my cheek. I was too tired to move so I let Sasuke make the next move.
He started to make hand signs for a jutsu and I was watching him closely. By the time he got to the tiger seal I knew he was planning on a fire jutsu. I tried to run out of the way or distract him so he couldn't complete the jutsu. But then I saw a giant fireball come towards me. I closed my eyes and braced myself for the burning to come, but when I opened my eyes there was no fire and Kakashi was standing in the middle of us.
"That's enough."
I sighed and sat looking at the ground in defeat. I heard Sasuke's footsteps coming to me and I looked up at him.
"You're still weak. Stop trying to impress me and go back to your old self. Everyone is worried about you."
"Whatever. I can do what I want to." I stood up and began walking away. "Kakashi-sensei, I'm leaving."
I went to my room when I got home. I was lying on my bed for a little trying to think of something to do. My stomach growled slightly, but I ignored it and tried to get my mind off eating. I would go train, but I didn't want to see anyone. I was still lying in bed when I heard someone knocking at the door.
I got up to go answer the door, and halfway there the person was knocking repetitively. I was a few steps away from the door and I heard Naruto yelling.
"Sakura-chan! Are you home? Answer the door please! Sakura-chan!" His hand was balled into a fist in the air when I opened the door, a stunned look on his face.
"What do you want, Naruto?" I spoke with an annoyed tone.
"Oh, I was just wondering… do you want to go to Ichiraku with me? I mean, we haven't really talked very much and you left training early…"
"No." Naruto's foot caught the door before I closed it.
"Please Sakura-chan? You always told me that you would go out with me, but you never did."
"Now's not the time Naruto." He stepped into my house.
"Then can we eat here?" I looked at him surprised. He was so desperate to date me.
I sighed in defeat. "Fine, we can go to Ichiraku, but only for a little bit." He jumped and hugged me and took my hand.
"Let's go then Sakura-chan!" His smile was so big it showed all of his teeth. I couldn't help but smile back gently.
The whole way I was trying to think of a way to get out of eating. If I did eat, which I wasn't planning to, I would only eat a little. Maybe, I wouldn't even finish the smallest bowl they had. Naruto would probably be happy if I just sat there and talked to him, but he would be a little uneasy at first. As we got closer to Ichiraku, I could smell the food from all the restaurants. Barbecue pork, fried dumplings, egg rolls, miso soup, everything from appetizers to desert, their smells were mouthwatering.
"Ah! Naruto-kun! You're back!" The owner greeted Naruto with a big smile.
Naruto smiled just as big and replied, "Yeah, I haven't come here in a while."
"So, what will you have today?" The owner took out two bowls.
"Sakura-chan? What do you want?" Naruto turned over to me.
"Oh, I'm not really hungry Naruto… I ate a little when I got home." My stomach was objecting to my words, but it was for the best.
"But Sakura-chan, it's no fun if you don't eat something! Eat a little!" he changed his face to a pout, "Please?"
"Naruto…" I sighed. "I'm really not hungry..." I looked down.
"Oh I know! You can have a bite of mine!" I was about to say no, but Naruto already ordered the biggest bowl they had. Naruto looked at me and smiled just as big as before. I looked back at him and smiled a small smile.
"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan! Has anything been going on lately? You were crying the other day and I was just wondering…"
"It was nothing." I tried to make my voice sound soft, but I spoke harsher then I intended. "You don't need to worry about it." I could tell he was about to beg me to tell him, but a giant bowl of ramen was set in front of us.
"I've been so hungry for Ichiraku ramen!" Naruto reached out and broke a pair of chopsticks immediately. "Itadakimasu!" Naruto attacked the bowl and slurped up a bunch of noodles.
"Sakura-chan! Have a bite it's really good!" He pushed the bowl in front of me. I pushed the bowl back at him and refused to eat.
"I know! I'll feed you!" He took his chopsticks and picked up a smaller amount of noodles. I was going to shake my head no, but when it was right in front of me I leaned my mouth forward and ate it. Naruto watched me as I ate and closed my eyes in satisfaction. I never liked ramen that much, but it was even better since I hadn't been eating.
"See! I told you it was good Sakura-chan! Do you want anymore?" I nodded and he fed me another batch of noodles. It was better then the first time.
"Naruto, I don't want anymore." I forced a smile. "You can eat the rest." My stomach was yearning for more food and my mouth wanted another taste. I wanted to eat the whole bowl that Naruto ordered, but one look at the owner's daughter and I was reminded what I needed to do. It was already bad enough that I left training early, and now I ate? Ayane was still skinny even though her father owned a ramen shop. I emptied my house of all its food and I was still fat.
"So Sakura-chan… Are you sure you're ok? You can trust me with anything you know." Naruto interrupted my thoughts.
"I told you Naruto, you don't need to worry about me." I was getting a little annoyed at his probing questions. "I think I should go home now."
"Wait! Let me take you home!" He quickly finished his bowl of ramen and paid for it.
"Naruto, I can get home by myself. I'm leaving." I started walking away.
"Thanks Sakura-chan. For going out with me." Naruto hugged me from behind.
"You're welcome Naruto…" I spoke softly and continued walking home.
When I got home I ran to the scale and hopped on.
'79 pounds… I didn't lose anything today… not yet at least… I'm need to lose more weight. No, I'm going to lose more weight.'
I stormed out of the bathroom and was stopped by a white paper on the counter. It was the chunin exam permission slip. I took out a pen and signed it. If anything would help Sasuke notice me, it would be becoming a chunin. I will get Sasuke to notice me, I will get skinny, and I will become stronger.
I stuffed the paper into my weapon bag and went out the door to the training ground. The only thing that was running through my mind was the words that I spoke so many times.
"I can do better…"
I really hope the chapter was okay... I wasn't exactly happy about this one, and I'm getting kind of nervous about the story not being... realistic. Next chapter is going to be filled with the same self-hate. I'm not planning for it to be as long as the last two have been (and now that I went to the story and looked at how long the chapters were they're not exactly that long...) but I should have it up by Saturday or Sunday. And the chapter after should be up in the same two weeks or less. I'm hoping for a week, but I don't know. My other story (Don't be shy) really needs to be updated, and it's hard for me to write it. Sorry if the chapter wasn't what you expected it to be...
