Never Forgotten
Chapter 6: Don't Want to be weak no more
Thanks to X.x.Panda-chan.x.X, x.X.SANOlover.X.x, Kura Uchiha-san, LoveIsMyHate, Chibi Strawberry Neko, Lady Teiana, and hrtSakura for reviewing.
+ an extra thanks to hrtSakura for the idea for the story. 33
Konnichiwa or Konbanwa minna-san! Thanks to everyone who put me on story alert and what not! .
I really appreciate it.
'member constructive criticism is appreciated. b.d
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.
.X. Recap .X.
He brought her up to her specialized room with all her medical equipment and put her on the bed and pulled an oxygen mask over her porcelain face. He inserted an IV into her arm and another needle filled with her medication in the other arm. Temari and Kankuro walked into the room and stared at their imouto with a saddened expression. Temari walked into the bathroom and got a wash cloth dunked in cold water and wringed if before putting it on her head while Kankuro pulled a blanket over her torso.
The three of them looked at her and sighed. 'This is going to be a long night for all of us.' They thought to themselves. They settled down around the couch at the opposite end of the room and waited for the sick girl to wake up.
Sakura's Morning
Dream Sequence
Sakura looked around to see nothingness but her ears picked up a sound. She wandered slowly towards the noise and with every step she took the sound became louder.
'It sounds like…a child laughing.' She thought to herself.
Suddenly a flash of light began to appear before her eyes slowly and gradually getting bigger until all the darkness had disappeared. 'Odd…' She scanned the new scenery around her and was awed by the sight before her. She was in a beautiful garden with a koi pond and a bridge across the water and she turned a bit and was faced with rows and rows of Sakura trees with their petals dancing about and falling towards the earth. Then she heard that little girl's laugh again and a soothing yet sad melody was playing in the background. She walked further up the garden and found a young girl with pink tresses playing the flute and a younger boy leaning against the trunk of the trees sketching in a notebook.
'Ahh…this must be when me and Sai-nii-chan were younger. I remember this; this was the last day of the summer break before school started for us. And the last day we ever saw kaa-san and tou-san.' Tears began to flow down her flawless face as she watched herself and Sai talk to each other and play around like little kids were meant to do.
Then the sky began to darken quickly and her surroundings began to warp into a dark and dreary alleyway where it all began. She began to tremble and collapsed onto her knees clutching at her head to rid herself of the painful memories of the past. 'No…no…not again…please anything but this.' She sobbed to herself. She saw shadows out of the corner of her red-rimmed eyes and she began to get scared all over again. She tried to run away from the memory but her body refused to move. Her eyes were shut tight and her hands clamped over her ears to prevent any screaming from entering her ears. Her brother was murdered right before her eyes, blood splattering her red dress, staining it with a sticky red substance with each stab. A tall shark-like man was laughing and cackling as he continues to stab the half dead boy, relishing the screams coming from the young boy's mouth. Soon the screaming ceased and the man began to lick his knife clean tasting the blood and bloodlust began to grow once again in his eyes. Sakura ran over to her brother sobbing on his wound screeching for him to open up his eyes.
As Sakura watched this scene she wince hearing her younger form crying for her brother, she began to cry to herself harder and louder, she mentally berated herself for being weak and unable to help him.
'Why did I have to be so weak? Why nii-san? Why did you have to protect me from these foul men?'
"What a pretty girl… maybe we can have some fun with the blossom." A man with a light blue tinted skin said, his gill-like tattoos moving as his muscles were contracting and loosening as he talked. "Don't you think so…hmm...Itachi-kun?"
The said male looked down at the four year old girl sobbing and calling out her brother's name.
"Sai! Sai-nii-chan wake up! Onegai! Don't leave me…not like they did! Please…please…"
Itachi at the age of 10 was part of the infamous gang called Akatsuki. His personality was cold, calm and icy, yet cunning just like a weasel. The boy's eyes were one of his traits; blood red eyes that the mangekyou sharingan reside in making him look even more intimidating than usual. He silently approached the sobbing girl as she buried her tear-stained face in Sai's chest covered in a crimson liquid and grabbed her hand. He threw her against the wall where she cried out in pain and fell to her knees attempting to escape their clutches. She saw feet approaching her and looked up to crimson eyes and backed away in the fear that was developing rapidly. He bent down and pulled her chin upwards a crushed his mouth on her pale quivering lips and pushed her down none too gently. Sakura began to struggle futilely against the older male. The Uchiha began to undress her shirt with a lustful intent growing in his eyes.
"Stop! Please!" She begged squirming from underneath the weasel.
Itachi acted as if he didn't hear anything and made a move to pull down her shorts…--
End of Dream Sequence
Sakura bolted up with a startle gasp, sweating and shaking. It has been a long time since she had that dream. She pulled her legs to her chest and buried her flushed face to her knees panting, tears streaming down her face. She scanned the room and spotted her siblings lying down on the couch sleeping peacefully.
'I hate this! I hate being so useless and a burden to everyone. I want to act like my old self; confident and free from everything.'
She slowly made a reach for the drip and the mask, but the bed creaked and groaned waking up Gaara. Gaara slowly open up his eyes and looked around and saw Sakura painfully sitting up and rushed over to her side. Sakura quickly masked her face so Gaara wouldn't question her abrupt awakening.
The pink haired girl looked over to him and meekly said, "Ohayo, Panda-chan."
He helped her remove all the wires from her body and turned his pale jade eyes towards her and gave a concerned look then replied with a simple 'hn'. Sakura sighed as she heard this response. The other two siblings lying on the couch woke up with a start and wildly looked around and their eyes landed on Sakura. They quickly bolted up and rushed to her bombarding her with billions of questions.
"Are you alright?"
"Do you want to stay home today?"
"Did you sleep well?"
"Do you need any medication?"
They both cut each other on and off until Sakura and Gaara both bonked them over the head harshly.
"Itai. Gaara/Sakura-chan!" They both whined.
"I'm fine. Now stop badgering me."
Just then Tsunade and Shizune holding Ton-Ton waltzed through the door and up to Sakura's bed. Worry was evident in both pairs of eyes. Ton-Ton jumped out of Shizune's arms and pounced on Sakura, sticking her snout into her stomach.
"Bweee…bwiee."
"Hai, hai…I'm alright. Stop asking me that." Sakura said with an exasperated voice aimed at the newcomers.
Tsunade went over to Sakura's side and put her hand on her forehead.
"You don't have a fever anymore…so I guess you can go to school…it starts in an hour so you have plenty of time to get ready and just relax."
"You mean…that we have an hour just for you to drink sake…and relax okaa-san" Sakura giggled and everyone knew that everything was alright.
Sakura got up slowly from her bed and walked into her walk-in closet and got out her uniform and undergarments and stalked towards the washroom to freshen up.
"Ne, minna-san. I'm going to take a shower so everyone can go and get themselves ready for school.
Everyone went back to the respective rooms to get ready for the day. In the shower Sakura was pondering on what to draw for her art project for she only two days left 'til it was due.
'Hmm…what should I draw? Should I draw a good or a bad memory? Hmmm…" She silently thought to herself as the warm water ran down her body then going down the drain.
'Maybe you should draw something that is a mix of the good and the bad times.'
'Probably…We'll see about it…it's due tomorrow anyways.'
"OI! Sakura-chan! It's almost time for school hurry up in there!"
"Ah shoot! I'm late! Man was I in here that long?"
Sakura quickly turned off the water and dried herself off. She pulled her hair into a messy bun with chopsticks and pulled on her uniform and grabbed her bag and rushed down the stairs nearly running Ton-Ton over as the pig walked to the door. Sakura stumbled as she held the wall for support as she put on her shoes.
"Gomen Ton-Ton." With that said she ran out the door and flung the car door open and buckled herself in slamming the door in the process.
"Hey! BE careful with my beautiful baby Sakura! You're going to scratch up the paint job I just did a couple of days ago." Kankuro complained as he backed out the driveway and headed towards the school.
Sakura looked out the window watching the scenery blur by as the car sped away; the three others looked at each other discreetly knowing that she had a nightmare, but didn't push it seeing her so peaceful and relaxed. The black car pulled up into the school parking lot and caught the attention of many of the students in the yard. The car stopped and the four of them walked out and went their separate ways; there was still 15 minutes until class starts.
Sakura walked to the school's garden and sat down on a bench placed under a forest of cherry blossom trees. The pink petals dance around as the soft breeze wound through the branches, slowly making the blossoms float to the ground covering the grass in a soft pink blanket. Sakura relaxed visibly and thought about her past.
'Sai-nii-chan. I wish you were here, just like when we were younger…playing together and drawing. I miss you all so much.'
Sakura felt a gentle wind caress her face and closed her eyes knowing it was her older brother. She could hear his voice as the wind continue to hug her, 'Keep on smiling pinky like you always do.' Sakura opened her eyes and took out her flute that she found in the back of her closet and put it to her mouth and began to play a sad melody. (A/N: Sadness and Sorrows) She began to close her eyes once again as the melody carried itself with the wind and travelled throughout the school yard. The wind blew all around her tossing her pink tresses around her body making her at peace, losing herself in the song, she continued to play the piece over and over again, just like she use to for Sai.
Sasuke's Morning
"Sasuke-chan! Wake up! It's time for school" A cheery feminine voice called from his doorway.
Sasuke stirred from his king sized bed groaning as his mother entered his room and threw back the curtains and made her way to his bed, pulling off his black silky comforter. He groaned out loud and covered his eyes from the sun's bright, teasing rays and rolled over. Sasuke is not a morning person. His mom began to grow impatient.
"Uchiha, Sasuke if you do not wake up now I will throw you out of bed with the help of our butlers and lock you out of the house where your fangirls will attack you." She threatened in a menacing voice, her eyes darkened with a mischievous glint.
Sasuke bolted up and ran for the bathroom; being the non-morning person he is ran right into the door and fell flat on his butt. His mother laughed at her son's antics.
"Mou, okaa-san. That's mean." Sasuke whined sleepily as he got up from the floor while rubbing his sore nose.
'Works like charm.' Mikoto snickered as she walked out of the door to help prepare breakfast for her son.
Sasuke brushed his teeth and then took a shower. He got out and dried himself up and put on his uniform. He attempted to brush his hair, but it always spiked up at the back. He got his bag and walked downstairs where the smell of food attacked his senses.
'Tomatoes and onigiri.' He thought to himself, mentally drooling.
"Ohayo, kaa-san. You really like to see me run into the door don't you?" He asked pouting a bit.
"Of course, Sasu-chan. I absolutely love it when you do." She replied cheekily as she set down a plate in front of him.
Sasuke ignored her reply and ate his breakfast quickly. As he was finishing his breakfast his father walked in through the door and sat down.
"Ohayo anata."
"Ohayo, otou-sama."
"Ohayo." He replied with a small smile.
Uchiha Fugaku is the president of the famous Uchiha Corporations that deals with the trading industry as well as designer clothing. He accepted his wife's plate of food and began to eat slowly. Sasuke got up from the table and put his plate in the sink and kissed his mother on the cheek.
"I got to go now mom, dad." He walked out the door and popped open his trunk and stuffed his bag in it. Sasuke unlocked his car and sat down; starting his car he made his way to Naruto's house to pick him up. He pulled up to the Uzumaki Mansion and the gates opened up for him. The car stopped and Sasuke honked the horn of the car. Bang! The door flung open and a flushed Naruto ran out with his book-bag in hand and a bowl of ramen in the other. The blonde male's shoes were untied as he fled down the long marble steps and he tripped down the remaining 7 steps. The bowl of hot ramen flew out of his hand and landed on the ground.
"NOOO‼ MY RAMEN‼ WHY!?" Naruto cried over his beloved ramen.
Sasuke sweat dropped at the sight and sighed as he got out of the car.
"Dobe-no-baka, hurry up. We got school." He said as he pulled the depressed boy by the collar and dragged him into the car and drove off.
Naruto was sulking in his seat, sniffing every so often as they sped down the streets.
"Urusai dobe. If I buy you a bowl of ramen at lunch would you shut up and stop complaining?"
"Thanks teme." Naruto said grinning like nothing had happened.
'Stupid dobe. Every morning it's the same. He'll never learn.'
Sasuke pulled up into the school parking lot furthest away from the building to avoid the fangirls mobbing his car. They got out of the car and began the long walk to the school.
"OHAYO, HINA-CHAN!" The cerulean eyed boy yelled out to his girlfriend.
"Ohayo Naruto-kun." She replied as she walked over to him smiling at his greeting.
The couple walked off in their own direction leaving Sasuke alone – they didn't want to deal with his fangirls .. Sasuke avoided the group of girls near the entrance of the school waiting for his arrival and walked to the school's garden, his sanctuary away from the busy world. As he approached the garden he heard a sad melody playing from his refuge and sped up his pace. Once he arrived there, he was astounded by the sight before him. He saw the new girl sitting under the cherry blossom trees playing her flute with a soft, serene expression on her face, her hair dancing around her like the pink petals were. Her song was so sad yet so expressive, she seemed so relaxed and at peace, unlike yesterday when she was scared and jumpy. He felt her pain and sorrow as the song went on and became mesmerized by the piece and became lost in his own world, in a world full of his own painful memories. He was awakened from his thoughts when the song ended. He began to clap as he approached Sakura.
Sakura's POV
I ended the song and opened my eyes when I heard clapping. I looked around and I saw Sasuke walking towards me with a small smile on his usually cold face. I look away as I felt my face turn red and busied myself on putting my flute away in its case. As I put my case away, I heard his footsteps draw closer and closer until I heard it stop a foot away from me and I looked up and saw him staring at me and then he sat down beside me and he closed his eyes. He looked so at peace and content unlike the other times I saw him. I remembered he was one of the people who helped me yesterday.
"Thank you Sasuke-san for helping me yesterday during gym." I said in a small voice looking at the petals falling.
"Hn."
'What type of answer is that? Hn.'
I was about to ask him what that meant, but the bell rang. I got up and began to walk to class when I heard Sasuke walking beside me; I turned and saw him looking down at me.
"Come on." He said as he walked ahead of me.
"Hai." I replied as I ran a bit to catch up with him.
The walk to class is quiet but comfortable. As we approached the classroom, I can hear Ino-pig yelling about someone being lazy. Sasuke opened the door and walked through and I followed after. Strangely enough, everyone quieted down and stared at us. I began to get nervous and started to poke my fingers together keeping my head down. Sasuke seemed unfazed by the sudden attention and continued to walk to his seat in the back. I slowly made my way to Ino but the door opened and Kakashi-sensei walked in with the same orange book I saw him with yesterday.
"Okay class. Today I'm going to assign you all a group project that is going to be due in 2 weeks, and I get to choose your groups." He said with a smile behind his mask. "Sakura, please sit beside Gaara."
"Hai."
I made my way to Panda-chan and sat down with a smile. He looked at me with a blank stare and turned towards the window facing the cherry blossom garden. I sighed.
'This is going to be a long day.'
Please review! X.x.SakuraUchiha.x.X