Hajimemashite and Konnichiwa, dearest reader-san! Apple Fairy here! . Thank you all for the reviews! They all are what encourage me to go on!
Kitsune Kit- XD
I love your Inner KK! Tis so fun! x3
Glad you like it! And yes, the pairing is sad, but it can be fluff too. : )
-ties up Sasuke, throws him into a potato bag, and gives it to Naruto- 0;D
Naruto'll take him back...
Ah...I realize it would be long, but I'm not going to do the filler episodes, hun. Okay: )
Pale Moonlit Nightsky- Like your name, sweetie! Sounds so mytstical. x3
Glad you like it! And thanks for the compliment, too. :3
I'm sorry if I'll make you cry. I'll cry with you...okay? T.T
sasukeschick-Updated. : )
Lioness Of the Fire-Thanks for the compliments. : )
xweaponsxmistressx-Ah...goes with story, hun, he has to. I'll cry with you, okay? T.T
Itachi: O.o
Thanks for the autograph! x3
You'll be seein' it on eBay! XD
Hoorah sugar! -throws you cinnamon rolls- x3
rmariel-: )
-puts away fishing kit- Glad I did, hun. x3
O.O
I never knew that part would be so popular. I guess it is, though. :3
And I never knew the summary was that attractive. It was kinda hard for me to guess what to write. I guess I succeed! XD
But anyway, thanks for the compliment, hun. x3
psalmofsummer-Thanks for the compliments! And look! The waiting ceases! x3
Aya-Marie-chan-She says thank you. : )
Yah! Cookie-dough icecream hoses PWN! XD
Teh ebilness for SasuSaku rocks. Let's go create an army of SasuSaku lovers and smite and convert the NaruSakus! XD
Yeah, he seems the possessive-type, doesn't he? Must be an Uchiha clan thing. x3
Sorry I made him too over-protective...They need some drama! They can't be fluffy all the time. x)
Thankies for the compliment!
rain-cry-wolf-Thanks for the compliments! x3
LAWL! PMSing Sasuke! XD
When I read that I seriously ROFL! Literally! O.O
Yeah...he needs to stop being a girl and getting jealous at Lee...x3
Sasuke: Why don't you just go to that stupid whore, you player! I don't need you anyway! -runs off crying and eats from a bin of fat-free vanilla ice-cream-
Sakura: O.O WTF?
XD
PMSing Sasuke tis so fun to write...x3
Cunning Angel-Mmm...they can be such a silly couple if you write it well enough...at least that's what my friend says: D
Sakura: Does Snowflake want some catnip? x3
Sasuke: Drop it, Sakura!
Sakura: Looks like someone didn't get their catnap! Want me to give you a belly-rub? xD
Sasuke: -blushes-...yes.
Sakura: O.O -blushes-
XD
My my, what sillumness...
Yah, Sasuke can be such a moody emotional meanie. XD
But for that, Sakura gave him a smack to teh face! Smack him, girl! Smack some sense into him! XD
Sakura: O.O
Yeah, the whole kissing in the rain was inspired by a commercial for the movie The Notebook.
Aww...how he was holding her up and kissing her in the rain all sweetly. x3
I need to watch that movie...: )
Hey! I'm a romantic too: D
Let's go listen to love songs that sound SasuSaku and imagine scenes with them! x3
Like Goodbye My Lover by James Blunt. It's a very sweet and innocent song that so sounds like them! x3
I highly reccomend listening to it. :3
Yeah...I made them a couple so it's still going to have the same diaolouge and action, but with some additions added...
...You just gotta wait and see, hun. x3
Woot! Weirdness roxors! XD
Because everyone knows when your normal it's way boring. xD
Glad you heart the story, sweetie! And...
Do you love it now?
Do you love it now?
Do you love it now?
...I hope you do, cause I just updated! XD
rainingblood666-Nah...there will be fluff...just sad fluff T.T
O.O
You're right! There isn't anymore hints of NaruSaku: D
I know what you mean, hun. I try to imply brother/sisterness between Naruto and Sakura in this fanfic. I want SasuSakus that read this to see why Naruto and Sakura are only friends. : )
Ah...if he ran then the whole plot would go bye-bye...O.-;
But he did acknowledge her! He didn't go all like "Sakura...annoying as ever..." or sumethin'!
If he did I'd have to smack him...-shifts eyes-
I love the fight scene they all had, too! When she was all charging at him he looked ever so slighty surprised!
He was probably going all like "Ho'shiz! She's, like, tryin to hit me and stuff! That's hot!"
XD
But, seriously, he did look surprised a bit, and probably had a different view on her...
...Like thinking she's strong and stuff!
That would be cool...Sasuke thinking she's strong...
...Darn Yamato! You should of let Sakura fight back! XD
But, you're right. With how strong he's gotten, he should of seen Sakura coming...but did he respond quickly? No.
Cause he still shares some sort of bond with her.
-shifts eyes- ...like love...x3
Ah, but that's just my thoughts in a nut-shell. :3
That's alright if you don't review, hun. Just as long as you read the story is fine. :3
BewareMySpork- Aw...I your friend? O.O
Otay! You're my friend too! x3
No non-waiting for you! I have teh updated!
That's alright, hun. As long as you read and love the story that's fine with me. :3
-kicks Itachi's lifeless corpse with you-XD
Corpse-kicking is what the cool people do...
...Like corpse-huggling! x3
-huggles Haku's corpse-
We'll miss you Haku...T.T
Oh, and it's good to have you back, Spork. : )
I missed j00...T.T
Sasukes1fangirl-No, hun, I'll still make it SasuSaku even when he leaves. You'll just have to wait and see. : )
Ah...in the current series, he hasn't come back yet, but some say he might while some sourly doubt it.
My fanfic goes with the storyline, so he will not suddenly come back and go like "Sakura, marry me!" or something. -.-;
But don't worry, there will still be teh SasuSaku-ness in here. Okay:3
SasukeandNejicuties-Thanks for the compliment! I hope they were tears of joy. O.O
I updated! x3
Ur2tRoUbLeSoMe90-Thankies for the compliment! Updated! x3
kunoichi alchemist- Yah, he's a really sensitive guy...he'll just be all 'Grr'-like in front of the others cause he's Sasuke and he can do whatever he fletchin' feels like! x3
Except leave the village! x0
Yesh...he's also possessive. -.-;
But, like Sakura said, just proves how much he likes her. x3
Yeah, I almost decided to really make them break-up for dramatic effect! O.O
But my sister said, Fluff twas better, so they didn't. x3
Hwa...teh perfect couple: SasuSaku! x3
Yay! Now I'm squeelin' like crazy! XD
Sarah Rebecca-I know! How can people not love teh Shojo? -rolls eyes and smiles-
Aw...sorry you'll cry! I'll cry with you! T.T
Heh heh...Christmas makes me cry too...and songs...and stories...and dying puppies. T.T
Oh! And Haku! ;.;
Thanks for the compliments: D
pinkrazor-Yay! Teh awesomness! xD
Yay! Someone finally smacked Sasuke! And it was his own girlfriend! xD
Woot! Crazyness pwns. :3
I luff j00 too...x3
Updated!
Twilight Dragoness- Hwa...isn't it nice when we get all mushy and corny sometimes?
It just shows we can be sweethearts once in awhile. x3
Be corny to me all you want, hun! I luff it! x3
Yah. I got alot planned for time-skip. :3
You just have to wait you, Dragoness-who-tis-sweet-and-corny! x3
01sweetxnaii-Thankies for teh compliments! x3
Hm...major OOC-ness is here...sorry for that...
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Memories
Story by Apple Fairy
The last chance...
The last kiss...
My dearest sweet...
My dearest love...
I will never forget you.
The last time...
Everything was perfect until then.
I should've seen the signs.
I should've seen his anger and depression...
If I did, would he still be here?
He was going crazy.
Although, most people would say he was if they knew of his state.
He was going crazy...
...all because of his current train of thought.
The last mission was what troubled him.
Sasuke had received an injury from the last enemy Aoi. He couldn't beat him...
...but Naruto did.
Aoi had more power then even Naruto's Rasengan and couldn't be beaten by the chidori...
...yet Naruto defeated him. Whereis, Sasuke attempted to, but couldn't.
He was getting stronger, Naruto was, as showed during the fight with Gaara and this battle. Sasuke wasn't the audience this time, but he sure as heck might as well been.
He was getting annoyed and angry. He felt himself getting weaker next to his blond-haired teammate who gained strength.
He didn't like that.
What hurt the most, was also he had put her in trouble. While he laid unconcious on the brittle bridge, Sakura had attempted to wake him up.
Aoi had cut the ropes on the bridge and the couple fell. He had heard from Sakura herself she had used charkra to hold herself to the vast valleys walls, before they dived into vicious waters.
Sasuke felt angry that he couldn't do anything to save her. To be unable help her and to have only endangered her.
Ever since the kiss in the forest, the couple's relationship had deepened and was stronger. They had fallen in more love with each other.
But, for Sasuke to have felt responsible for her almost-death, he felt unbearably guilty and felt disgusted with himself.
The thought of Naruto gaining strength and the guilt of Sakura's endangerment made Sasuke feel angry and sad.
For now though, he was in the hospital, sat upright and looked out the window.
Sakura was visiting him, although he felt completly oblivious to her presence.
He felt numb.
Sakura set down a vase with a single white rose.
"But thank goodness you don't have any serious injuries, Sasuke-kun. Naruto is relived, too." She said to herself more then to him.
The mention of Naruto's name, brang Sasuke memories of how Naruto had saved them in the mission and of how Aoi had said that the survivor of the Uchiha clan was weak.
Weak.
Oh, how Sasuke hated that word.
Especially of how it was an insult to him
And he was right. Sasuke had lost that match and Naruto had triumphed.
He was stronger then him.
"Sasuke-kun, you must be hungry. Is there anything you want to eat? I can go buy something..." Sakura said, but Sasuke felt himself drift away from the world.
He was weak.
Weaker then Naruto.
Weaker then Itachi.
Sasuke didn't like this.
No, he loathed the thought of being weak.
Sakura looked to Sasuke concerned. His eyes were dull and he looked despaired and troubled.
Something was obviously wrong with him.
"Sasuke?" She called out and leaned to him closer. He still didn't acknowledge her. Sakura's heart ached for seeing him like this.
"Sasuke-kun, are you okay?" She asked again and placed a hand on his shoulder. Sasuke just sat there.
She didn't like seeing him like this. Completly numb to the world, despaired, and lost in thought. It scared her.
Sakura leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. When she parted she looked to him sadly.
"Sasuke, if something's wrong I'll listen. Please, Sasuke, don't do this to yourself." She pleaded with him sadly.
Sasuke heard her voice. He heard her words, but he didn't want to face her. He didn't want her to know how weak he was.
Or how he had almost sent her to her death.
So he only sat there, oblivious to her, locking himself up from the world, and throwing away the key.
He had woken up later, knowing Sakura had left to get something from the store. He heard her footsteps going down the hallway. A wave of relief washed over him soothingly.
Maybe he could tell her of his problems. She always knew how to cheer him up or how to reassure him. Sasuke wanted her to know now.
He was willing to open up to her.
The love of his life and the girl he so cherished...
He saw her sillouhoute in the door's window...
"Hey, Sakura-chan!" A voice called.
Naruto's voice.
Sasuke flinched and scowled. Naruto! He spat in his mind.
The boy who surrpassed him in strength...made him feel weak...made him the audience to his growning strength...
The boy who had earned Sakura's look of love and admiration on the roof.
Jealousy and anger boiled in him. Sasuke grew furious.
He envied this boy.
Oh, how he detested this boy.
Sakura walked to the stool she sat in earlier, carrying a bag in her arms.
"They're only apples, but you don't hate them, do you?" She asked him, even though she knew he wouldn't answer. Sakura picked up a red apple from the group she got "See?" She showed him cheerfully. "It looks delicious, doesn't it?"
Sakura looked around for the knife she had earlier. Naruto made a joke of where it might of gone. Sasuke didn't hear neither of them as more memrories of Naruto's strength reeled in his head.
Sakura-chan...is the person I will protect! He had yelled when he summoned the Boss Frog.
Sasuke scowled.
He was the one who had loved her. The one who had cherished her love and sweetness.
He loved that girl with all his heart.
Yet he was too weak to protect her.
He was never strong enough to save her.
But Naruto was.
He felt his strength slip through his fingers...
...and the love of that innocent emerald-eyed girl.
She had told him he was the only one she loved...
...so why was he doubting himself?
He had told her of how Naruto was the one who saved her after the battle with Gaara, and she had looked at him with that look.
His insecurity and jealousy of that event never faded. He believed she loved him...
...but she could also fall out of love with him.
And love Naruto.
Sasuke's anger deepened. He resented that boy.
Sakura peeled an apple as Naruto lay on the floor twitching. It was obvious that he had said something to tick her off.
She glanced up to him nervously and worringly. He looked furious.
Sakura felt a chill go up her back. He had showed that look on that starlit night as well.
That look of hatred.
Sakura told herself not to say anything and pretended to be absorbed in peeling the apple.
He's just a little angry that he lost is all...nothing big...After awhile, he'll be the same...yeah...Everything will be the same...right? She reassured herself.
She never knew how wrong she was.
"There, all set. Nice and small." She looked to the cut apple happily. Sakura grabbed it with a needle and held up the apple slice. "Here you go, Sasuke-kun." She said cheerfully. Sasuke glanced at her with mad onyx eyes. Sakura felt a chill of foreboding.
Sasuke smacked away the apple slice and plate. Sakura jumped back a bit. She was confused and shocked at the same time. Naruto woke up at the sudden noise and disturbance.
"Wh-what?" He asked confused and saw the plate and apple scattered.
"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura called out confused. Sasuke glared at Naruto hatefully and Naruto flinched.
What's up with him? He wondered. Sakura glanced between the two nervously and frightened. She didn't like the feeling of this moment.
It was scaring her again.
He had challenged him to a battle, Sasuke did. The two polar opposites were to finally fight.
The battle that would solve it all.
Despite Sakura's pleas, Sasuke ignored her and walked by her, not even giving her a glance. Sakura's heart panged when he stepped on the apple slice without even a flinch.
It was a bad omen.
She was worried, scared, and nervous.
What had become of the man she loved? She knew he was competitive and easily-angered when his pride was on the line, but now he was acting more frightening then before.
He was acting cold and rutheless.
He was scaring her.
The only other time he had that effect on her was when he was possessed with the curse seal.
Sakura looked down with sadness in her jade eyes.
What was to become from this fight?
Sakura watched the match with intense fear.
She watched as Sasuke beat Naruto viciously and wondered what had happened to the boy who promised her forever so sweetly.
She watched as Naruto held back with his teammate, but soon after finding out that this was serious, put all his heart into his punches, kick, and justus; and Sakura wondered what had happened to the boy who made her angry, but still made her smile from time to time.
Who were these people?
These two fierce and rutheless warriors?
This wasn't the team she remembered.
This wasn't the team she loved.
No, it was them.
Just ailed by a poison called 'rivalry'.
She watched as fire consumed the hospital rooftop. The fire that came from Sasuke's justu. The fire wasn't large enough to reach Sakura though.
But it still gave her a feeling of hell.
The two charged rasengan and chidori. Sakura felt herself shake.
She wanted them back.
The team she so cared and cherished.
The team, although a bit mismatched, still held a place in her heart.
Her comrades and her teammates.
Her love and her friend.
She wanted them back.
She would get in the way if she had to, as she ran out into the crossfire.
She wanted them back.
She wanted the fighting to stop.
Stop scaring me...Naruto...Sasuke...we're all friends...so stop destroying it...please...
Please stop scaring me... She prayed in her mind as she ran. She ran and her legs hurt and her heart panged.
"Stop it!" She screamed. She didn't know what she was doing. All she wanted was the fighting to stop.
She didn't know she was putting her life in danger.
Sasuke and Naruto heard her pleading voice and saw her run toward their cross fire.
But they couldn't stop the techinques once they started.
Sasuke scowled.
Shit! I can't stop...Sakura! He called out.
He didn't want to hurt her. He loved her too much for that.
But that didn't matter if she got inbetween.
Suddenly, a pair of hands both grabbed the boy's wrists and thrust them away from each other.
Kakashi had stopped them.
Why? Kakashi wondered as he taunted his student. Sasuke was acting angry, he could see that. He was calling Sasuke a child and scolding him.
But Sasuke, ignored him. He didn't need critiscm.
He merely ran off.
Kakashi looked to a troubled and irritated Naruto then to a devastated crying Sakura.
"Kakashi-sensei..." she whimpered and continued to cry. She was frightned of what had happened. She was acting like a scared and confused puppy, whining and whimpering for comfort.
Kakashi sighed. Where's the teamwork now? He questioned.
Sakura felt herself be swallowed up by grief.
Her friends...
...it's as if the teamwork they all shared...the memories they all created with each other...
...were vanishing.
All of the happiness they once had were for naught.
She cried for her team.
Her lonely tears fell.
Would everything be the same again?
Comforting words from Kakashi helped her brighten...
...but hurtful words from Naruto had then darkened her mood just as quick.
Tight wire resticted Sasuke against the tree's trunk; Kakashi holding onto it and looking down at him non-chalantly. Sasuke scowled.
"What is the meaning of this?" He asked in a ticked-off tone. He wasn't in the mood to talk. He just wanted to be left alone.
"If I don't do something like this, you'll try to escape won't you? You aren't the type who sits and listens to lectures." Kakashi informed him. The silver haired-jounin glanced to the Curse Mark.
"Sasuke...forget about revenge." Kakashi commanded. Sasuke glared at him.
"What?" He demanded to know.
"I have seen plenty of guys like you. The ones who speak only of revenge are the worst kind." Kakashi scolded. He only recieved a hateful glare in return. The Copy Ninja never flinched.
"You will hurt yourself more than ever, and you will only cause yourself suffering. Even if you succeed in your revenge, all that will remain is sorrow." He warned. Sasuke wouldn't take this.
He wouldn't be critiszed on his goal.
"Shut up! What do you know! Don't talk to me as if you understand!" He yelled furiously.
"Now now, calm down." Kakashi retorted calmly.
"Well then, what if I killed somebody important to you? Then you'd see what you're saying is wrong." Sasuke replied back in sick humor. Kakashi still didn't flinch.
"Well, that could be, but...unfortunately, there isn't anyone like that for me." He responded. Sasuke glared at him thinking he was lying.
"They've already been killed." Kakashi finished in a cheerful tone. Sasuke's midnight eyes widened and the look of hatred and anger vanished from his eyes. All that was there was shock.
He really wasn't lying.
"I've lived longer then you, and times have been bad. I know the pain of loss." Kakashi continued and Sasuke listened to his teacher intently. Had Kakashi really gone through so much?
"You and I haven't really been fortunate. It's true. It could be worse." Kakashi continued. A bond had seemed to form between the two at that moment he had said they were the same.
No one could really be certain what type of bond it was, but most would probably tell you it would be something like the bond a father and son has.
Sasuke looked to his sensei with confused and curious eyes.
"For me, and for you too...We've found good friends, haven't we?" He reassurred him. Sasuke looked down and thought of his teammates.
That stupid boy with baby-blue eyes, but with a good heart of gold.
His sweet pink-rose haired love with a caring personality and an innocent demeanor...
These were his friends. The people who cared about him. The people who loved him.
His second family.
"Because of your losses, you should understand. Chidori is a power that I have given you. It is not to be used against your comrades, nor for revenge.You should understand what that power is meant to be used for." Kakashi lectured and let the wire loosen and return to him.
"Think over what I've said and see if you can accept it." Kakashi finished and soon vanished from his student, letting him think.
Sasuke looked down with remorse and guilt.
What had happened to him? How could he have been so cruel and cold toward them?
How could he have acted so mad toward Naruto?
How could he have treated Sakura with such coldness?
Sakura...
She was probably frightened by what had happened. He had probably scared her.
Oh...what a fool he had been.
He had to apoligize, not only to her, but to both of them.
He felt sorry and guilty for how he had acted. Acting so monsterous...
In such a sick way.
Thoughts such as these rushed through Sasuke's head.
He was oblivious to the Four Sound nins that spied on him.
Sakura leaned on her balcony's edge and looked down to the street. No one inhabited it, but it really didn't matter.
She was too lost in thought over what had occurred.
She recalled memories of when Sasuke and Naruto would have their petty little fights...a picnic the team had where they all laughed and smiled...the time they came back from a mission to see from a cliff the village at sunset; all of them had eagerness in their eyes...
What had happened to them?
The teamwork and the laughs?
It was falling apart.
Sakura looked ahead with a sour face and went back into her room, but really her heart was aching.
She didn't want this hate to continue.
She wanted the old days back.
She walked out onto the empty road and let herself think. Her heart aching painfully.
She heard footsteps and glanced to her side.
It was Naruto.
"Sakura-chan..." He whispered her name with an empty tone. Sakura turned her head to him, a serious look on her face.
"I need to talk with you. I'll go out on a date with you, so please come." She persuaded him. Naruto looked to her a little shocked, but accepted the date.
Sakura didn't even worry that she was going behind Sasuke's back.
She just wanted someone to turn to.
Before she was to leave on their date, Sakura had said she wanted some time alone and would meet Naruto at Ichiraku later. Naruto had agreed with her, needing some time to think, too.
Sakura dashed throughout the village and looked feverishly.
She needed to find him.
Sasuke.
She wanted to say so much to him. She wanted to ask him so many questions as well.
She needed to tell him everything.
Sakura leaned against a tree in the village and panted.
She couldn't find him. She looked as quickly and as much as she could, but she still couldn't find him.
Sakura felt tears come to her eyes. She was sad at how everything was breaking and falling apart so fast.
While she could do nothing.
Sakura buried her face in her hands. She needed someone to comfort her.
Anyone could do.
Sasuke heard sobbing from where he sat and looked down through the branches.
And there she was.
She looked like a scared and lost child. Sasuke's eyes widened as he witnessed her cry.
"Sakura?" He called out softly. Sakura snapped her head up and looked at him with big, confused, emerald eyes.
The two held each other's gaze for awhile till Sakura hugged herself and looked down.
"S-Sasuke-kun..." She wimpered and continued to cry. Sasuke jumped down and landed in front if her. Sakura merely cried and didn't acknowledge him.
Sasuke pulled her to him and let her cry on his chest.
He wasn't sure why she was acting that way, but he didn't like to see her suffer like that.
When the wailing had reduced to little hiccups, Sakura pulled away from him and looked up to him sadly.
"Thank you..." She muttered. Sasuke looked to her remorsefully and nodded.
"Anytime. Sakura, are you okay?" He asked. Sakura frowned.
"Sasuke-kun! Don't keep secrets from me! Something's troubling you...right? Why won't you tell me?" She demanded with a wet voice. Her sinuses were foul from crying so much and her eyes red. Sasuke looked down.
"Yeah, there is. I'm sorry, Sakura. I'll tell you...I'll tell you everything...okay?" He asked her rhetorically. Sakura nodded and listened to Sasuke's worries of becoming much to weak next to Naruto...and how he felt she could fall out of love with him and love...Naruto.
"Sasuke-kun...how could you think that way? You know I love you and only you. That will never change, remember?" She reassurred him, having recovered from her crying episode. Sasuke nodded and listened intently to her encouraging words of 'You will get stronger, just be patient'.
His heart panged for some reason. He felt a hurting in his heart as if...something was ending.
Sasuke hung his midnight head and pulled her to him closer. Sakura's emerald eyes widened and gleamed confusion.
"Sasuke-kun...are you okay?" She asked him softly. Sasuke blinked and laid his forehead against hers.
"...I don't know." He admitted. Sakura pulled his head down into a kiss. Sasuke's heart jumped in surprise.
Sakura pulled apart and her eyes showed concern and reassurance.
"You know I'll always be here for you." She whispered. Sasuke blinked and felt grief overcome him.
"Sakura..." He called out passiontly. Sasuke leaned down and kissed her with sweet passion. Sakura blushed at his forceful and passionate kiss, but kissed him back in return.
Sakura blushed deeper when she felt Sasuke's hand trace back and down her back and into her pink locks.
He had never gone that far before.
She liked it.
Sakura decided to do the same and ran a fingertip down his spine. Sasuke shivered with pleasure.
He didn't want to let the kiss end. He just wanted to stay like that forever, kissing her passiontly.
He held onto her tightly, too. He felt as if he let her go, he would never be able to hold her again.
Eventually, Sakura broke apart, panting heavily from the longful kiss. She looked at him with surprised and mystified eyes.
"I never knew you could kiss so well..." She complimented him in a playful and flirty tone. Sasuke only looked down to her with sad eyes.
"I love you." He whispered. Sakura's eyes gleamed confusion.
"I love you, too, Sasuke-kun." She reassurred him.
"Sakura...know that whatever I say or do to you, I still love you, okay!" He convinced her panickly.
"A-Alright...I know that, Sasuke-kun, we promised forever, right?" She smiled at him. "Forever." She whispered the vow.
"...Right...Forever..." He whispered tiredly and leaned down onto her shoulder. Sakura looked to him skeptically.
Something was wrong. She could tell.
Sakura looked to him worried when she felt it.
"Sasuke...are you crying?"
"These place's pork noodles are the best! So eat up, Sakura-chan!" Naruto perssuaded cheerfully. Sakura looked down to her bowl of ramen with sad eyes.
Why had Sasuke cried?
When she asked him he mearly told her to go.
She pleaded to help him, but he had only said 'I need some time to think'.
Typical, the whole team were thinking alot of the dying friendship they had.
Sakura was lost in thought and only scarcley heard Naruto's attempted cheer-ups.
Even when the store owner teased Naruto that Sakura was his girlfriend, and he looked over to her with hopeful and shy eyes, she did not notice.
She was much too lost in thought.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called to his friend curiously. Sakura finally snapped back to reality and looked over to him with apoligetic eyes.
"Sorry, Naruto. I was daydreaming a bit. This sure looks delicious! Well, let's eat!" She said in fake happiness and snapped her chopsticks cleanly. Naruto smiled to her, a bit of pink still on his cheeks.
"While we eat, tell me more about Sasuke." He said and gathered some noodles. He looked over to his pink-petal haired friend and noticed the same despairing look had returned at the mention of his name. Naruto tried his best to get back that smiling facade, but failed. Sakura finally spoke.
"Sasuke-kun told me not to tell you this..." She explained and told Naruto of the Curse Mark. The two discussed of the new villian linked to the Curse Mark, Orochimaru, and Naruto ressurred her that Sasuke would never join a guy like that. He was too strong and prideful.
Sakura stared at him for a moment and smiled warmly.
"Yeah!" She agreed with him happily.
...Yet why did her heart ache?
The gray-haired man threw Sasuke cruelly to the concrete wall. Sasuke's back stung and he slid down. The Four Sound ninja walked up to him.
"Let's make this clear. Such a weak guy. I just want to kill people like him!" He told him smugly. Sasuke felt anger take over him.
He loathed being called weak.
"Go ahead and try it!" Sasuke dared as he allowed the Curse Mark to sprawl over his body. He looked up to their shocked faces with crimson Sharingan eyes.
"You...posses the seal?" Asked the two-headed nin. Sasuke charged for him, but was thrust away just as quickly. He looked up in pain.
The man had a squiggly-like Curse Mark flow over his body.
"That doesn't mean that you're the only one Orochimaru-sama favors." He mocked. Sasuke's eyes widened and stared in disbelief.
"That seal isn't something you should use frivolously. However, it seems that you can't control it well. The more you use it, the deeper the seal will infect your body. You look like you are in the first stage, so it's spreading slowly, however...When the seal consumes your body, you will lose yourself. Forever." He explained as the Curse Mark on Sasuke receeded.
"Rather than the seal granting him power, Orochimaru-sama used it to imprison him. For us, there's no such thing as freedom. In order to gain something, you must willing to give something up. What is your goal?" The girl Sound nin asked in a serious tone. "Spend enough time in this quaint little village, and you will forget all about Uchiha Itachi." She explained. Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise.
"Don't forget about your goal. This village is nothing more to you then the place where you grew up. Just forget about those useless bonds. If you do that, you will be able to gain tremendous power." The gray-haired man perssuded him. Sasuke was listening intently.
"Don't forget your goal!" He yelled a final goodbye and they all jumped back and dissappeared unto the night. Leaves fell from where the once were and Sasuke sat there thinking of their words. Such tempting and convincing words...
The leaves fell and he caught one gingerly.
An image of Itachi flashed in his mind and he crushed the leaf out of anger.
He knew what he had to do.
"Sakura-chan! I'll walk you home!" Naruto offered kindly. Sakura turned to him.
"It's alright."
"What? What? Isn't going alone dangerous?" Naruto asked concerned. Sakura looked up to that innocent pearl.
"Since it's so bright, I'll be fine." She reassurred him. Leaves flew by the clear surface and Sakura felt a chill go up her back.
A bad omen.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto called to her. Sakura snapped back to reality and looked to the baby-blue eyed boy.
"Naruto, thank you. But for now, I want to be alone." She explained to him sweetly.
"Oh?"
"Don't worry!"
"Yeah!" Naruto agreed and nodded his head cutely.
Sakura waved bye to him and walked as worry filled her mind.
What was this sense of foreboding?
This sense of great danger?
And why did it concern Sasuke?
He had packed everything he needed.
He had decided with a heavy heart.
He looked to a picture of his team and looked over every one of them.
Kakashi...a rather strange guy, but one who treated him like a son.
Naruto...an idiot who always got on his nerves, but still seemed to hold a special feeling of rivalry and friendship in his heart.
Sakura...
What else was their to say, but that he loved her? A gorgeous and beautiful girl who treated him with utter kindness and asked for nothing in return.
He loved everything about her.
And she loved him the same.
His heart ached more, but he shrugged it off and turned the picture frame down.
His second family...
His friends...
His comrades...
They were all, but to be a memory.
Sasuke began to walk out his door till he looked back to his room.
He had gotten prepared for his first date here.
He had comforted her on his bed here.
All but to be memories.
Sasuke looked around and asked himself if he had forgotten anything.
Silver caught a glimpse of his eye.
He walked over to his bedside table and looked down.
A silver oval-shaped locket laid there.
He picked it up and examined its chain and smooth surface.
He remembered now, Sakura had gotten that as a present for him.
"For luck, Sasuke." She had told him sweetly before the Chunnin matches. Sakura clasped it around his neck and it dangled there. Sasuke looked down to it boredly.
"I don't need luck." He retorted. Sakura sighed.
"Fine. Then to prove that I love you. A present from me. How about that?" She asked him sweetly. Sasuke leaned over and kissed her gently.
"That works." He whispered.
Sasuke opened the simple trinket and inside was a picture of a smiling Sakura. Her hair short and her eyes bright, the background was a sky of clouds.
He guessed she had taken a picture of herself and given it to him to use it.
Sasuke looked to it forlornly.
He closed it and clasped it around his neck; hiding it in his shirt as he did.
Sasuke left his home and didn't question his own actions.
Sakura walked home with a feeling gnawing at her.
She felt something bad was to approach.
Something terrible.
She stopped and listened to a voice that kept on calling to her.
Go...
Sakura listened intently.
Go...the road that leads out of the village...Go...
Stop him while you can...
Sakura closed her eyes and decided to go with the voice that was her intuition.
She ran to the place the voice had said to go.
She never knew she was running to her own heart-break.
It is all to end.
But maybe when the clock favors you, you shall hear the tale.
That's the end of Chapter 11! I hope you enjoyed it!
Yes, the next chapter is when he leaves.
I'm very sorry if you're sad. Please forgive me. T.T
Well, thank you for reading! I hope you have a wonderful day! Ciao!
-Apple Fairy