Never Forgotten
Chapter 10: Past Revealed
Thank you to ToraHimeSama, DarkxBlossom, Kurai Raiku-Kurai Kisaki, gianna loves SasuSaku, x.X.SANOlover.X.x, Geanie-chan101, and X.x.Ronald.Weasley.x.X for reviewing!
And thank you very much those who have put me on story alert or 'favourited' me story!
Aha. This is the longest chapter I have written yet. I just had so many ideas for this. This may be a onetime thing so don't get your hopes up faithful readers! Sorry!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters in any way!
.X. Recap .X.
'No one knows about the Uchiha Sharingan, well other than the dobe. So how could she have drawn Itachi's?' He hissed to himself venomously.
"Oi. Teme. Wasn't that Itachi's eye?" Naruto whispered to the brooding boy.
"Hn."
The next two periods went by quickly and the group headed towards gym.
'Prepare Haruno Sakura for your worst nightmare.' A certain person thought to themselves.
The two girls were silently talking as the boys were trailing behind them engulf in their own conversation.
"Are you alright Sakura?" Ino asked concerned shown on her face.
Sakura just looked dazed as she walked beside Ino. Ino became really worried when her friend didn't respond to her questions. So she stopped and grabbed Sakura by her shoulders and shook her furiously. Sakura looked a little shaken up but still didn't respond to the vicious blonde roughly shaking her back and forth.
"Ino. You're going to hurt her." Naruto said in a small voice.
"I know. But once she's like this, it's hard to get her out of it. Something bad might happen to her if she doesn't snap out of it." The blonde replied sorrow showing in her eyes.
"Do you know why she's like this Ino?" Naruto asked.
"You know that little boy in the picture with us? That was her older brother, Sai. He was murdered by a gang right in front of her eyes. The actual picture itself was a real memory of the three of us. We were in a park with our instruments a day before school started and we were just fooling around and stuff you know? That was one of the best times we had together."
The two boys were shocked at the news of the small girl's older brother.
'No wonder she's so withdrawn.' They both thought.
They heard footsteps. The three of them turned to see Sakura making her way towards the gym still in her trance of shock. They began to walk again with Sakura in front and the three of them in the back with different looks on their faces. As the four of them walked towards the gym they heard whispers of despair.
"Those were his eyes. They will always haunt me wherever I go. They will always remind me of the past. They want to break me."
The three of them looked bewildered at the sudden voice. But no one was in the hallway but them. Their eyes travelled to the rosette. Her pale lips were moving and emitting the hushed words like a mantra, over and over again, increasing in volume.
"Those were his eyes. They will always haunt me wherever I go. They will always remind me of the past. They want to break me."
Ino began to pale as she realized that the eye in her drawing was the one who had ruined her best friend's life and rushed forward towards the girl and tried to hug her. But she was pushed away gently.
"Sakura. Please stop with this. You're only going to hurt yourself and everyone around you if you keep going on like this. I know it is difficult to on like this, but it's the only way. Everyone you've known will always be there to help you get through this. You have to learn to let go of the past and move forward. And you have to learn to forget about HIM. Sakura look at me. Don't you see I really want to help you with this? Don't you see that you have to talk about it to forget about it? Look at me Sakura!"
Sakura snapped out of her daze as she listened to the words that Ino was saying to her. With each sentence she heard, she got angrier and confused.
'How would she know about what I went through? She wasn't the one who got something taken away from her.'
'She's just trying to help you get over this.'
'I don't want her help! If I talk to anyone about this they'll only pity me and not help me.'
'But if you don't talk about this and keep it bottled up inside, you'll go insane!'
'Perhaps…but it's better than reliving it. Isn't that right?'
'Wrong! You have friends that want to help you. But you're just being selfish and making everyone and you suffer from this. That was the past and it will always remain the past.'
'Even if it is the past, it'll still haunt me forever. I will always see it in my dreams.'
'Yes. It will still affect you in the future. But do you want this bottled up inside for the rest of your life? Living with the guilt of turning down and disappointing those who want to help you get through this? Do you not think that they too will
be hurt by this stupid and pathetic decision you have made? What do you think your brother would have thought of this? You are a coward!'
'SHUT UP! I don't want to hear this from you! I just want to live my life the way it is!'
'Fine. I'll leave you alone for now. But remember this. You have friends for a reason. They are a pillar of support and that will never change.'
The other three watched as Sakura's expression changed drastically. She seemed to be have an argument with herself; debating if she really wants the help or not.
"Sakura look at me! Don't you see I want to help you!?" Ino said with a desperate tone. "Don't you see how much I want to see you smile again? How can you be so selfish and act like the coward? What happened to the sweet outgoing Sakura that I used to know? The one who would always look on the bright side of things? The one who would said that they would be there for me when something goes wrong? The one who said that they would tell me if something was wrong? What happened to her?"
Sakura turned around with her long hair covering the shadows of her eyes, hiding the tears that were in her eyes.
"Shut up. SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH. EVEN IF I WERE TO TELL YOU, ALL YOU WOULD DO IS PITY ME! I DON'T WANT PITY! I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE WHERE I COULD THINK BY MYSELF AND TRY AND FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING. I WANT TO FORGET HOW THAT BASTARD HURT ME AND KILLED SAI. I WANT TO SEE HIM DIE A PAINFUL DEATH AND FEEL HOW I FELT WHEN SAI DIED. HE WAS THE ONLY ONE LEFT FROM MY FAMILY. MY PARENTS WERE MURDERED INO! MY BROTHER WAS KILLED IN FRONT OF ME. I SAW IT WITH MY VERY OWN EYES! AND I! I WAS FREAKING RAPED AT THE AGE OF 4 INO! BY SOME FUCKING BASTARD WHO HAD THOSE EYES! THOSE EYES THAT HAUNT ME WHEREEVER I GO!" Sakura shrieked at the top of her lungs tears streaming from her eyes. "NOW TELL ME. CAN YOU UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL? CAN YOU HELP ME GET THROUGH THIS, WHEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW I FEEL?"
Ino had turned even paler as she heard Sakura scream out her past at her. It was one thing to hear it from the Tsunade but to hear it from her best friend's own mouth that had hurt her even more. Naruto and Sasuke were furious when they heard that someone with the Sharingan had hurt Sakura. Sasuke rushed forward and appeared behind Sakura and hit a pressure point behind her neck, efficiently knocking her out. He caught her in his arms and held her gently, feeling guilty that it was his own brother's fault. His kin had caused her so much pain and misery. He gently wiped away the left over tears with his hand. Ino's legs became wobbly and she began to sway and she fell to her knees with a soft thud. Naruto rushed forward to help her.
"Ino-chan. Are you okay?" Naruto asked concerned for the blonde.
"I'm okay. I'm not sure about Sakura though…"
Naruto hulled Ino up and draped her arm over his shoulder and put an arm around her waist and began walking to Sasuke who had Sakura on his back.
"Let's just go. We are in no condition to go to gym." Sasuke said in a controlled voice. "I'll drive us to my house."
The two blondes just nodded and followed the Uchiha outside to his car. Naruto put Ino in the back seat as she nodded her thanks and Sasuke put Sakura beside Ino. The drove off in silence, scared of what to say. They were unaware of a shadow hiding behind the corner, listening to everything that had happened.
"Ino…is what Sakura said true?" Sasuke said in a soft voice, careful not to wake the sleeping girl.
"Yeah…it's true. When she wakes up I'll tell you guys about it." Ino said, as she stroked the pinkette's hair gently.
The three of them sat in silence thinking about today's events and what Sakura had yelled out to them. Her past, the same thing that has been haunting her for the last 9 years of her life has been revealed by accident. All three of them had mixed feelings about what has happened, but none of them pitied the poor girl. They felt like the world had been unfair to her and has taken away her childhood by putting her through any girl's nightmare. They feel like they had to do something to help her get past this horrific event. But they couldn't do it, if they didn't know the whole truth. They had to hear it come straight out of her mouth. As Sasuke pulled into the driveway the front gates opened to reveal a huge mansion owned by the Uchiha family. He parked the car and was greeted by a butler.
"Why, Young Master. You're home earlier than usual. Is something the matter Young Master?" Wei asked.
"Wei, can you please get a guest room prepared and set up some chairs and some tea and ramen for the dobe?" Sasuke said with an exhausted voice.
"Of course, Young Master. I will do that right away." The butler said, he bowed and walked away preparing what he was asked to do.
Sasuke went to the side where Sakura was on and pulled her into his arms gently, careful not to jostle the young girl. The other two were already halfway up the steps with Naruto's arm holding Ino up. They walked into the room that Wei had prepared and Sasuke set Sakura down and covered her up with the comforter before turning to the other two and gestured them to sit down and have some tea. The atmosphere around them was a dark one, Naruto didn't even touch the ramen, Sasuke and Ino just drank the tea with an unreadable expression. Ino suddenly jumped when she felt her phone vibrate in the skirt's pocket.
"Hello? Yamanaka Ino speaking."
"Ino? This is Temari. Where is Sakura? We can't find her and peoples were saying that you, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura never arrived in gym. Gaara was ready to kill someone. Where are you guys?"
"Oh. Hey Temari. We're over at Sasuke's house. Sakura wasn't feeling well and had a mental breakdown so we decided to head over to his house. She's sleeping right now and when she wakes up she's going to have to explain everything to the other two guys. They found out about it."
"Shit. Really? Is she okay then? How long do you think she's going to be sleeping? Yamanaka. If anything happens to her tell the other boys that I'll have their heads on a platter and mounted on my wall! And tell them that anything that she says will stay with them and only them until she is ready to tell everyone else. She hates people pitying her the most. When she told us three, she was scared shitless. Please be gentle with her. She's really fragile. And we love her a lot. She's work this hard to forget it but it's never enough. Hopefully when she tells you guys, it'll be enough to make her stop hurting.
"Okay Temari. I'll tell the other two guys if she gets hurt, that you'll have their heads stuffed and mounted. She'll probably be out for the next couple of hours. Don't worry, if it's longer than that. I'll stay overnight and take care of her at Sasuke's house. He probably won't mind. Right Sasuke?" Ino said in a sickening sweet voice.
Sasuke and Naruto cringed when they heard the threat that Temari had said and Sasuke cringed even further when he heard Ino's voice and nodded furiously scared for his life.
"Alright. Thanks Ino. We owe you one. If anything call this number and we'll come over at anytime and help you out with her. Remember she has a weak body when overly stressed so make sure you have an emergency kit nearby. Remember Yamanaka if anything happens they are dead. Call if anything happens. I'll be at work with my brothers if anything. Ja Ino."
"Alright Temari. I'll call if anything happens. Ja ne."
Ino cut the line and turned to the pale boys. 'Poor guys. They're scared of Temari.'
"Alright than. Sakura and I will be staying overnight, so do you have any spare clothes like t-shirts and shorts or something we can change into, so we could wash our uniforms for tomorrow?"
Sasuke nodded and left the room to retrieve the clothing. Naruto fidgeted around looking a bit uncomfortable with the situation.
"What's wrong Naruto? How about this…You can stay here too. Since you know a bit of what is happening."
"Okay! I want to make her feel better, it's just wrong that that had to happen to her." Naruto replied.
"Yeah…I know…"
Sasuke returned with two black t-shirts and shorts and handed them over to Ino. She nodded her thanks and went into the washroom attached in the room to get changed. When she returned in Sasuke's clothes she pushed the two guys outside.
"Out! Out!"
"But why Ino-o? I wanna stay here with Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined.
"PERVERT! I'm going to change Sakura's clothes! Sasuke get this pervert out of here!" Ino screamed.
Sasuke shook his head at his best friend's antics. 'Why is my best friend so dense?' He took Naruto's arm and dragged him out of the room, scared that Ino would beat them into oblivion. When the door shut, Ino got up and slowly and gently undress Sakura and put her into the new outfit. But as she put on the new clothes she saw little red marks on Sakura's hands in the shape of a crescent moon.
'She's having a nightmare, if she's clenching her fists this hard.'
When she was doe she opened the door to reveal the other two boys on the ground looking bored as hell.
"You guys can come in now. I'm done changing her." Ino said.
The two boys walked into the room and sat down on the chairs in complete silence.
"Ne, teme. What are you going to do for the art project? It is due tomorrow right?" Naruto asked.
"I don't think anyone is done theirs. So let's work on it now while she's sleeping and we can kill time. Wei!"
The butler walked into the room and bowed.
"Yes, Young Master?"
"Can you get us three easels and canvases and my paint supplies for us? We have to do an art project." Sasuke asked.
"Of course, Young Master." Wei bowed and left the room to retrieve the materials. When he returned he set up the easels in front of the three teenagers and left. Naruto, Sasuke and Ino just stared at the canvases before them wondering what they were going to do for the project. Ino's eyes lit up when she thought of an idea and her hands began to dance across the page, adding dashes of colours here and there making her painting come to life. Sasuke and Naruto just stared at the blonde with wide eyes as they saw her painting slowly resemble people they know. It was a picture of them in the mall with bags all around them, and everyone was sitting beside one another with big smiles plastered on their faces except for Gaara, Sasuke and Neji who had smirks on their faces. Everyone looked so happy and content with each other. The two boys had a look of awe on their faces when they saw Ino pull away from the canvas after an hour of non-stop painting.
"Sugoi Ino! It looks so real! Even teme looks happy and he's a block of ice!" Naruto said with much enthusiasm.
Ino laughed as she turned away from her project. "Thanks Naruto! I just had the sudden urge to paint this where everyone is happy! What do you think about this Sasuke?"
Sasuke pulled his mask back on and stared out the window located beside him. "It looks…nice Ino."
Both blondes laughed at his compliment knowing that was all they were going to get out of the stoic boy. Naruto turned back to his canvas and started to doodle on it with a grin on his face and began to hum a song about ramen.
"Ramen is the best thing in the world! Ramen is the best thing for me. Ramen is my love for life other than Hinata-chan!"
Sasuke and Ino fell over anime style at this. Sasuke sat up quickly and coughed slightly and Ino just remained on the ground burying her face into the palm of her hand.
'How are we friends? This guy is a total moron!' They thought simultaneously.
Sasuke turned to his own canvas and stared at it with a killer intent.
'What the hell am I supposed to draw? Something from the past or whatever!?' His killer intent increased further, wanting to shred the canvas to a million pieces of scrap paper.
Naruto and Ino stopped what they were doing when they felt the dark aura slowly increase in the vicinity. The two of them looked at each other and slowly turned towards the boy sitting near the window with a scared and confused look on their face.
'Geez. What made him so mad? If he glares at it any harder it just might suddenly combust into flames.' The two of them thought with sweat drops.
They began to slowly giggle at the thought of the canvas bursting into a pile of ashes because of Sasuke's glare. Soon enough the giggles turned into full blasts of laughter that rang throughout the room, amplifying the sound. Sasuke turned away from his canvas when he heard the fits of laughter and turned his face towards the two blondes in the room with a confused look on his face.
"What are you two laughing about?" He asked.
The pair of them looked at each other and the bouts of laughter increased dramatically, scaring the raven head boy.
"N-nothing." Ino replied as she hid her mouth with the back of her hand.
Naruto just stuffed his fist into his mouth to muffle the sound, but it wasn't really helping. Sasuke glared at the two for keeping a secret from him and laughing about it too! A noise made everyone freeze and turn towards the bed where Sakura began to stir from her slumber.
"Hey, I think she's waking up!" Naruto yelled, clearly excited that his friend was feeling a bit better.
Ino walked over to the bed and put her head on Sakura's forehead to feel if she had developed a fever during the past few hours. Her eyes opened revealing dull sleepy ones and she sat upright staring at everyone around her with her dead orbs.
"Hey Saku. How you feeling?" Ino asked, concerned.
"Okay. Where are we?" She asked dully.
"We're at my house. You were yelling about stuff. I knocked you out and brought you here. Sorry if that hurt." Sasuke said coldly.
Sakura raised her hand and touched the back of her neck and winced.
'Ow. That baka hits hard.'
Everyone looked at Sakura with a funny look on their faces when they saw her reach up to the back of her neck.
"Sasuke-teme you baka! You hit the back of her neck hard! Why'd you do that for?!"
"Sasuke! What did you do to her neck!? If she's hurt me and Temari will kill you! You heard what she said on the phone right? Well that is about to become a reality tomorrow!"
"Aha! Teme is gonna get owned, and by two girls too! Aha!"
Sasuke had a tick on his forehead as he was being hit with plenty of insults by the two blondes.
"URUSAI YOU STUPID MORONS! I didn't do anything to her! That pain is absolutely normal. I've been trained in martial arts long enough to know that." Sasuke replied stiffly.
"That better be true or else your head ain't the only thing being mounted on Temari's wall…" Ino said, feeling sorry for the boy.
A giggle cut cleanly through the atmosphere. Everyone froze and slowly turned their heads towards the bed where the pinkette was trying to muffle her laughter behind her hands. Ino and Naruto soon joined in afterwards with the laughter, only Sasuke didn't. Instead he was hiding his amusement behind a smirk. As their laughter died down to minimal giggles and chuckles everyone focused their attention to the pink haired girl.
"How are you feeling Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.
"I said I was fine Naruto." Sakura replied with a sigh.
"Sakura I think you should tell them about it. They already know half the story when you were yelling about it in the hall. They want to help you about it. Please?" Ino asked.
Sakura's form became rigid and she began to pale quickly.
"Sakura-chan. Please calm down. They're not going to do anything to you. I'll make sure of it. They just want to help you like me and sand siblings want to, but you always put this wall up between us. I know you don't want to relive those memories again and I feel guilty knowing I'm your best friend and I wasn't there to help you through this. Do you have any idea how I felt when I found out you were hurt this badly? I felt so guilty that the world was so unfair to you. I felt guilty knowing that my best friend, the one person who is a sister to me went through hell and back and I wasn't there to help her with it. Please Sakura. Please let us help you. I want you to forget about this and move on and take up the arts again like Sai would want you to." Ino whispered desperately.
Sakura just sat on the bed looking at her hand torn between saving herself from reliving this nightmare and have help or have this bottled inside her soul for the rest of her life and never be able to move on. Everyone saw her inner struggle and they felt their heartstrings being pulled painfully.
'Sakura. You should let them help you. They all look so sincere about this. They really want to help you through this.'
'I know they mean well…but I just hate people pitying me. They might treat me differently than before they knew about this.'
'Not really. They won't pity you. Look at Ino…she knows about it before and she doesn't pity you. Look at her! She wants to help you. She feels guilty for not helping you before when it actually happens and she wants to make amends with this. I think she thinks you hate her because she wasn't there to help you through it.'
'Yeah…she does…but do they want to help me or pity me is what I'm thinking of.'
'They don't look like they want to pity you…they look kind of guilty don't you think?'
'Yeah that's true…I wonder why.'
'Why don't you ask them?'
Sakura looked up and stared at the three of them with a new resolve burning through her being. She turned to the boys and inspected them with her eyes, looking for anything that might show their untruthfulness in helping her forget the past. She beckoned the two of them over to her with her hand. The boys looked at each other and silently rose from their seats and made their way to either sides of her bed looking down at her.
"Sasuke, Naruto…do you really want to help me and not pity me?" She asked eerily calm.
They both shuddered at her tone but suppressed it and nodded at the bed-ridden girl. She studied them both carefully and nodded her head and everyone felt relieved that she believes them.
"I will only tell you guys, if you answer my question truthfully and without complaining. Alright?" She asked the boys. They nodded their consent. She took a deep breath and asked.
"You guys don't know me very well and yet you two look guilty because of my situation. Why is that? Is there something you know that I don't?"
The two boys stiffened when they heard the question. 'Shit. I didn't think she would ask that.' They looked at each other and they stared each other down, debating over who was going to answer the question.
"I'm waiting."
Sasuke gave in and Naruto visibly relaxed a bit. "Sakura, promise me you won't hate me and my family once you hear what I have to say."
Sakura looked confused and but nodded. "Of course. Why would I hate you? You haven't done anything to me."
Sasuke stiffened even further after hearing her innocent reply. "The reason me and Naruto look so guilty is because…um…the eye that was in your drawing…um…is an Uchiha bloodline. Meaning only Uchihas would have it…but that particular pattern belongs to only one person in our family…and that belongs to…my elder brother…Uchiha Itachi." He spat the last part out venomously and braced himself for her reply with his head bowed in respect. "I'm sorry."
Sakura and Ino's eyes widened.
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" The blonde shrieked. "He's your brother!?"
Sasuke nodded and bowed his heads even further. "I'm sorry on his behalf. You didn't deserve to be treated like that in the past."
Sakura looked like she had seen a ghost when she heard that Sasuke was his younger brother. She couldn't even think properly. She didn't know what to do. Her body began to tremble as she took in this information.
'They have the same blood. His brother ruined my life. He took away what was mine.'
"Sakura get a hold of yourself. This isn't Sasuke's fault. It is his brother's, not his. So don't hate him. You gave him your word that you wouldn't hate him once he told you why he felt so guilty." Naruto said.
'He's right you know? It isn't Sasuke's fault. But rather his brother's. Look at how he feels Sakura…he feels guilty that his own brother did this to you.'
'You're right. I shouldn't take this against him. He did tell me ahead of time not to hate him and he does feel guilty.'
Sakura stopped trembling and looked at Sasuke's bowed head. She reached over and put her hand under his chin and raised his head and her eyes met his. Her eyes softened when she saw his cold eyes filled with guilt and worry over her past.
"I'm sorry Sasuke, if I made you think I was mad at you. You didn't do anything and yet you are saying sorry for his sin. Thank you for telling me the truth. I really appreciate it. And same to you too Naruto. Thank you for your support." Sakura said as she bowed as best as she could since she was in bed.
They all looked at Sakura with appreciative looks and each had a small smile on their faces.
"Since all of you guys want to help me get through this…I guess I should tell you guys from the beginning. You guys may want to sit down…"
Sakura leaned against the backboard of the bed and Sasuke and Naruto sat down on the floor while Ino situated herself on the edge of the bed.
"It happened the first day when we all began school at the academy…"
-- x -- Flashback -- x --
"Sa-Ku-Ra-chan! You start school today right?" A black haired boy asked.
"Hai, Sai-nii-chan! I'm so excited! I hope I make new friends! Can I spend lunch with you today?" A pink hair girl asked.
"Yes you can spend lunch with me. You look so excited." Sai laughed.
The two of them were sitting at the dining table with their parents on either end.
"You look so cute Sakura-chan in your uniform!" Her mother gushed.
Sakura blushed. "Thanks okaa-san! I really like it! What do you think otou-san?"
The eldest male was hidden behind a bunch of newspaper he was reading. He lowered it to reveal obsidian eyes and raven hair.
"You look adorable blossom." He replied with a smile.
"Come on, imouto! We got to go to school now." Sai said.
"Okay!"
The two of them went to the front door and put their shoes on and grabbed their knapsacks.
"Bye, everyone!" Sakura chirped.
The two elementary school students left with small smiles on their faces.
"Sa-Ku-Ra-Chaaaannn!" A blonde yelled from down the streets.
"Ino-chan! Ohayo!" The rosette called back. "Are you excited for our first day at the academy?"
"Of course! Hiya Sai-kun!"
"Ohayo, Ino-chan." Sai replied politely.
The three of them walked together towards the building. When they arrived Sai left them and headed towards his own class.
"Sai-nii-chan! Remember we're all eating lunch together!"
"Hai, hai." He replied waving his hand to let them know he heard them.
"Sakura-chan. I got to go to the washroom. I'll be right back okay? Just stay under the cherry blossom tree!"
"Okay. I'll wait here for you." Sakura said with a smile on her face as she sat down.
'I can't believe that I'm actually going to school here! It's going to be so much fun!"
She heard footsteps approach her and saw a shadow coming toward her. She thought it was Ino coming back from the restroom.
"Ino-chan! That was fast. Do you know which class we're in?"
"I am not Yamanaka Ino, forehead. I am Watanabe Ami. The prettiest girl in the whole entire academy."
'Vein much?' Sakura looked up to see a girl about her age with long purple hair and amethyst coloured eyes and a bunch of girls standing behind her.
'Sugoi. She's so pretty.'
"Ohayo Watanabe-san! My name is Haruno Sakura! Do you and your friends want to be my friends?" The oblivious girl asked.
"Who would want to be your friend? You're so ugly and hideous. Who in the world has pink hair? Only a freak does. Yamanaka is only your friend because she pities you because you're so ugly. I don't know how you're related to one of the hottest guys in the academy Sai-kun."
"Why are you so mean to me Watanabe-san? I haven't done anything to offend you have I?" Sakura asked, as tears welled up in her eyes.
"Oi! Sakura-chan! I'm sorry that took so long. My hair had something in it!" Ino yelled as she ran up to the girl. "Who are you guys and why is Sakura crying?!"
"We didn't do anything Yamanaka-san. She was already crying when we came up to her."
"Liar! Sakura doesn't cry that easily. What did you say to her?!" Ino screamed at the girls.
A trembling pale hand grabbed Ino's and tugged her back to prevent her from attacking the other girls.
"It's okay Ino-chan. They were just telling me that they liked Sai-nii-chan."
Ino looked at the sniffling girl with disbelieving eyes but brushed it aside.
"Leave Sakura-chan alone or else I'll tell Sai-kun that you were mean to her. He'll hate you guys forever. Now go away. We got to get to class."
Ino grabbed Sakura's hand and dragged her towards the school to find their class. The fangirls looked at the pair with wide eyes not believing that the blonde brushed them off like they were nothing.
"It's going to be okay Sakura-chan! They're just a bunch of idiots."
"Yeah…I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right! I'm Yamanaka Ino! And don't forget that!" Ino said with a grin.
The girls giggle as they walked down the hallway to their classroom taught by Iruka-Sensei. When they arrived in the class they sat down together and their teacher came in through the door and began class. The day went by quickly without anything else happening to the pair of them. The three of them were walking home and Ino went into her house leaving the two siblings by themselves.
"Imouto how was your first day of school?" Sai asked.
"Well…it was pretty boring and nothing happened. Except for the fact that there were a bunch of girls that came up to me and said mean stuff to me just because I'm your sister and stuff like that. I never knew that you had fangirls! Aha! Blackmail! I can make fun of you now! Hahahaha!" Sakura giggled.
"Mou Sakura-chan that is just harsh. You wouldn't sell your brother out to those weird girls would you?" Sai pouted.
"Hmm…maybe…maybe not. Depends on how I feel." Sakura said and stuck her tongue out at her brother.
As the two of them approached their house they saw that the door ajar like it was forced opened. The neighbourhood was eerily quiet as they stood on the porch.
"Sai-nii-chan I'm scared." Sakura said fear laced in her voice.
"It's going to be okay Sakura. Hold onto my hand and you'll be alright." Sai said acting brave for his sister, but inside he was scared as well.
They ventured into the house not knowing what they might encounter in their house. They walked through the front door and saw nothing out of place and relaxed a bit and continued to walk through the house trying to find their parents.
"Kaa-san! Tou-san! Where are you?" The two of them yelled.
"Sai-nii-chan, do you smell that? It smells like okaa-san's onigiri and miso soup…Do you think she's in the kitchen and didn't notice the door?" Sakura asked tilting her head to the side.
"I don't know, but let's go find out. Remember quietly." Sai whispered.
Sakura nodded and the two of them walked into the kitchen and saw the pot steaming overflowing with the soup and a plate full of rice balls.
'That's odd kaa-san never leaves the stove on when she's not around. What's that nasty smell!?' Sai thought to himself.
The two of them continued to walk into the kitchen and when they walked behind the island, Sakura screamed.
"OKAA-SAN! TOU-SAN!" She screamed at the site.
Sai pulled his sister away from them and covered her eyes with his hands and dragged her outside the house. He was sickened by what they both had seen. There was blood everywhere. It was dripping from the side of the island onto the floor where their parents lay on top of one another. Their eyes were bleeding and their mouths were agape. Both bodies had slashes and cuts everywhere and the clothes wore torn and shredded to pieces. Sai pulled his sister into a tight hug and put her on his back while saying words of comfort. He walked towards a neighbour's house down the block and rang the door bell furiously. The door opened revealing a man named Yamato.
"Sorry for intruding, but may we come in? It's important."
"Sai, Sakura-chan. What are you guys doing here? Is something the matter with Sakura-chan? Why is she crying?" He asked as he ushered the pair into his house.
Sai put his sister down on the couch and beckoned Yamato to follow him.
"Sai, what is wrong?" Yamato asked looking concerned.
"Can you call the police please? Our parents are dead. Imouto and I saw them on the kitchen floor when we came home and the door was forced open and there was so much blood and Sakura is crying now and I don't know what to do and and and…" Sai was panicking.
"Sai! Calm down. I'll call them right now." Yamato quickly dialled the number for the Konoha Police Force and told them about the murder.
Sai walked into the living room and saw his sister sleeping on the couch with tears still streaming down her face. He found a small blanket and draped it over her small body. He situated himself on the opposite chair and stared at the ground not knowing what else to do.
'Okaa-san and tou-san are dead. What's going to happen to us? Who is going to take care of us? Who's going to buy medicine for Sakura-chan's asthma? How are we going to live? What am I supposed to do?' These thoughts were running through Sai's mind as he sat there.
Yamato walked into the living room with cups of tea for them and gave one to Sai and put the other one on the table beside Sakura.
"I called them. They're going to be there soon and one is going to come here."
Sai just nodded not knowing what else to say. The atmosphere between the two males was tense, neither knowing what to say to comfort one and the other not knowing what to ask. The doorbell rang and Yamato stood up to answer the door. Sakura began to stir from her sleep and she sat up. Sai walked over to her and pulled her into a hug as she began to cry again.
"What's going to happen to us Sai-nii-chan? What are we going to do?" Sakura sobbed into his shoulder.
"I don't know imouto."
Yamato walked into the living room with a nice looking police officer behind him.
"Sakura-chan, Sai, this is Officer Uchiha Fugaku. He's going to ask you some questions okay?"
The two of them nodded and sat down on the couch. The questioning went on for a while and Officer Fugaku stood up when everything was done. He was about to leave when Sakura asked him a question.
"Fugaku-san. What is going to happen to us?" Sakura asked.
The officer turned around and looked at the two with soft eyes and sighed deeply. 'I hate this about my job.'
"You guys will be place into an orphanage where you will live until someone either adopts you or when you reach the age of 16 and can live on your own." He said to them as softly as he could.
Sakura just looked scared while Sai looked emotionless. The officer bowed and left for their house. Yamato looked at them with a saddened expression. He and their parents were good friends and now they were gone. He sighed inwardly and asked them if they wanted to eat anything. They shook their heads and continued to sit there.
"So you guys want to stay here for the night before you guys have to go to school tomorrow and then the orphanage?" He asked it was the least he could do.
They two just nodded and followed him upstairs where he opened the door to the guest room. They two of them walked into the room and Yamato went downstairs to prepare some dinner. The Haruno siblings sat on the bed and looked at the ground not knowing what to make of this. They don't know what to do anymore. Soon they fell asleep and the next morning they were sent to school. They put on a façade that nothing had happened. They didn't want anyone to know that they were orphans now. When school ended there was a police officer waiting for them in the front of the school to escort them to their new home for the next couple of years. The two siblings were like zombies, nothing would faze them anymore as they continued their new lives without any parental guidance. They had made a promise to each other never to leave the other behind in any way.
After a few days they were outside and they were exploring the neighbourhood when they ran into some people from the infamous Akatsuki. Sakura was scared and was hiding behind Sai as they slowly backed away from the intimidating pair. They were in the back of an alleyway and were trapped. The taller of the two attacked Sai with a dagger of some sort and he screamed in agony and Sakura screamed in fear.
"R-run. Sakura-chan. G-get a-away from he-here." He stuttered as he choked on the blood flooding his lungs.
Sakura was petrified. She was rooted to the spot. 'I can't move. I'm scared.'
She watched in fear as the tall shark-like man laughed and cackled as he continued to stab the half dead body of her brother, relishing the screams coming from his 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 cried and cried as she watched the gory site of her brother being killed in front of her. She ran to her brother falling onto her knees shaking and crying over his body.
"WHY NII-CHAN? WHY DID YOU DO THAT? DON'T LEAVE ME! PLEASE! I NEED YOU!" She screamed.
"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…"
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 him. Itachi acted as if he didn't hear anything and continued to torture the small girl. They two gang members soon left the alleyway and walked back to their headquarters leaving the corpse of the boy and a sobbing four-year old girl behind in their wake. Sakura scrambled up ignoring the pain between her legs and screamed out her brother's name as she made her way toward his body.
"SAI! WAKE UP! PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE! YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME BEHIND. YOU PROMISED ME!" She screamed at the top of her small lungs. She began to cough and she struggled to breathe.
'Stupid asthma.'
On the other side of the street a pair of women were walking out of a bar, one was drunk and the other one sober and reprimanding the one who was drunk.
"Tsunade-sama. You know better than to drink." A raven haired woman scolded as she carried a small pig in her arms.
"Since when have – hic – I listened to that Shizune-chan? You – hic – should loosen up sometime. You're – hic – too uptight." The drunken blonde said as she staggered down the street.
Suddenly Ton-Ton the pig jumped out of Shizune's arms and raced across the street, avoiding cars on the way. Cars were swerving here and there trying to avoid the mammal.
"Ton-Ton! Come back here! That's dangerous! Ton-Ton!" Shizune yelled.
She grabbed her sensei and dragged her across the street to chase the small pig.
"Ton-Ton! Where are you? Ton-Ton!?" Shizune called out. She suddenly stopped when a metallic smell hit her senses head on.
"Argh. What is that smell? It smells like blood! Tsunade-sama! There's blood somewhere here! Someone might be hurt!" Shizune said to the elder women.
Tsunade snapped out of her drunken state and looked around. She heard a faint sniffing sound and coughing from the back of the alleyway. She followed the sound and the scent and walked into a dark alley and was met with a gruesome scene. Shizune gasped at the site.
"Bweee…bwiee."
"P-please get a-away from me." A small girl said through coughing fits as she pushed the small pink pig away from her with a bloody hand.
The two of them saw a small girl probably around four years old covered in blood and crying over a corpse of a slightly older boy. Tsunade and Shizune approached the girl with extreme precaution careful not to scare the girl even further. Shizune whipped out her cell phone and called for an emergency unit to come. Tsunade examined the girl quickly her medical side taking over and gasped.
"Shizune!" She hissed. "She's a rape victim!"
Shizune gasped. "What a terrible fate this girl has…"
They heard sirens in the distance and continued to try and calm the small girl down.
"Please calm down. You're only going to hurt yourself even more. And that asthma of yours is going to get worse." Tsunade cooed at the rosette.
Sakura began to back away from the two until she hit the wall behind her. Ton-Ton trotted up to her and stuck her snout into the coughing girl's side trying to calm her down. Colourful dots were decorating Sakura's vision as her breathing became erratic.
"Dammit! Her asthma has been going on for too long. Her body is shutting down! Get a stretcher here NOW!" Tsunade screamed at the opening of the alley.
People dressed in white uniforms and red crosses adorned on the back rushed from one end of the alley to the other and back with a stretcher in between them and a bleeding girl on it. They heard the slamming of the ambulance and the siren slowly fading away as the vehicle made its way to the hospital. A police officer made his way to Tsunade and Shizune quickly. He took a quick look at the corpse being lifted into the black bag and gasped.
"Sai!" He said with a look of horror on his face. "How could this happen? He was fine a couple of days ago!"
The two females looked at the police officer with a look of surprise on their faces.
"You know him?" They asked in unison.
Officer Fugaku nodded gravely. "Yeah. His name is Haruno Sai and I'm guessing the person in the ambulance was Haruno Sakura, his younger sister."
"How do you know them?" Shizune asked.
"They became orphans a couple of days ago. Their parents were murdered on the first day of school, and they came home seeing their bodies on the floor with in a pile of blood. Poor Sakura…she's been through so much in the last couple of days. Her whole family was killed in less than a week."
The two retired medics looked at the officer in horror.
"Are you serious?"
He nodded once again.
"Shizune I'm adopting her. I fear that her asthma has gotten worse. It might affect her lungs and her heart." Tsunade said with determination in her eyes.
They made their way to the hospital in the car that Fugaku had. They had made it in time to see the girl wake up.
"Sakura-chan. I'm going to be your okaa-san from now on okay? And she's going to be your sister okay?" Tsunade asked as she introduced the two of them.
Sakura didn't reply. She just stared at the white ceiling with dead emerald eyes.
-- x -- End of Flashback -- x --
"That's it. How it all happened." Sakura said with a dull heavy tone. Even though she felt like a tonne was taken off of her shoulders, it had cost her the pain of reliving it once again.
The three other occupants stared at the girl in awe, not knowing how she was able to live through so much pain when she was younger and yet keep a smile on her face most of the time. Ino was in tears, Naruto was shaking with anger, and Sasuke kept his composure up but inwardly he was furious and cursing Itachi's very being in any way he could.
"Don't worry Sakura-chan. We're going to help you forget all of this! Starting with the trip to the amusement park this Saturday!" Naruto yelled as he pumped his fist in the air, trying to lighten the mood up.
Sakura giggled at his cheery expression. She slowly stood up and walked over to Naruto. She knelt beside him. Naruto looked at her with a confused look on his face.
"Sakura-chan what are you doing?" He asked.
She just shook her head and pulled him into a hug and whispered 'thank you' into his ear.
"You're welcome Sakura-chan. I'll do my best to help you." He replied in her own ears as he put his arms around her frame hugging her back.
She pulled back with a genuine smile on her face and tears in her eyes. She made her way over to Sasuke and knelt down beside him and pulled him into a hug as well. Sasuke stiffened not use to such contact and put his arms awkwardly around her.
"Thank you Sasuke for telling me the truth. Don't feel guilty. I know that it was hard for you." She whispered into his ear.
Sasuke didn't reply and fought to keep his blush to a minimum but the blondes spotted it.
'AHA! I knew it! You like her! Aha! I'm a genius!'
'Urusai baka!'
The two other saw his blush and began to giggle softly.
Ino took her phone out and took a picture of them discreetly. 'Blackmail!' She and Naruto hi-fived and just watched the two of them. Sakura pulled back with a smile and began to laugh at Sasuke's expression.
"Thanks you guys. I can't wait for Saturday. And don't you guys have to do the art project?" She said as she looked around the room and spotting the art easels.
Ino and Naruto were already done theirs but Sasuke hasn't even started. A knock at the door interrupted them.
"Young Master and his guests, dinner is ready." Wei said through the door.
"Alright! Dinner!" Naruto yelled. The girls laughed at his response while Sasuke shook his head. Sakura looked at her appearance and noticed that she was wearing male clothing.
"Umm…Ino-pig. Whose clothes am I wearing and who changed me?"
"I changed you and those are Sasuke's and Naruto was a pervert who didn't want to get out of the room until Sasuke dragged him out." She replied.
Sakura's face turned red when she heard the last part.
"NARUTO YOU PERVERT!" She screamed.
Naruto ran downstairs quickly trying to hide from the enraged pink hair female. She chased him down the stairs and the remaining two just followed them with the dignity that they had.
"Hey wait up you guys!" She screamed as she raced down the stairs. Sasuke followed with an amused smirk on his face.
Dinner ended with Naruto eating almost everything there was and Ino scolding him for his nasty eating habits. They all went upstairs and got ready for bed. Sakura and Ino in one room, Sasuke in his and Naruto in another. Moments before Ino fell asleep she thought to herself, 'This is a new start for you Sakura and this time with your friends by your side.' Ino thought to herself with a smile. Soon enough everyone was fast asleep except for Sasuke who was staring at the canvas before him. He slowly dipped the end of his brush onto a pallet and began to paint his project. A couple of hours later he was done and put everything away and went to sleep.
To be continued…
Ack! What a long chapter! Hoped you enjoyed it! Please read and review!
X.x.Kuro-Neko-Chan.x.X