I'm so sorry this chapter took me so long... But the end of the schoolyear is approaching, and I really need to improve my grades. D
...Also, I've been busy writing a birthday fic for my friend. I'll upload the first part soon.
I want to thank all of you who have reviewed me and sent me suggestions for the following chapters. I read and enjoy all of them! Also, I try to fit in as much as I can.
Again, thank you very much for reviewing, and also just for reading my fan fiction. When I read your amazingly nice reviews, I almost cried. XD
Anyway, enjoy the following chapter!
~Lion3queen
Sakura woke up to the increasing volume and rapidity of raindrops tapping on the windows of her bedroom. Her eyelids fluttered open, but she noticed that there wasn't much difference in the intensity of the light. It was still dark.
She turned on her stomach with a grunt. According to her alarm clock, it was 11 AM already, even though it did not look like it right now. She pulled the covers over her head again, moaning in the process.
'And that damn' weatherman said it was going to be sunny today. Bastard.'
Reluctantly, Sakura rolled out of bed, left her room and walked over to the bathroom for a short shower. As she undressed, entered the shower cabin and turned on the warm-water button, she found there was no warm liquid pouring out of the shower rose. No, the liquid that poured out was icy cold.
Sakura squealed and jumped back, for a moment forgetting that there was nothing there but a shower curtain.
She instinctively grabbed a hold of the wet piece of fabric, accidentally ripping it off of the iron bar it had been hanging from just seconds ago, and tumbled backwards. With a loud yelp the pink haired girl landed on the stone tiles, tangled in the shower curtain, butt naked and freezing.
Trembling, she untangled the shower curtain from her body. She got up and turned the shower off, grabbed a towel from the iron towel rack and wrapped it around herself.
''Just my luck,'' Sakura muttered through clenched teeth.
She averted her gaze to the shower again, 'the water-boiler is probably broke,' she figured, shivering.
Sakura left the bathroom and walked into her bedroom. She dressed herself in a pair of white hot pants, a somewhat long pink tank top and a red
short sleeved vest that stopped just above her waist. It was too small for her, but her parents had bought it as a present for her ninth birthday, so she had many good memories of it. Memories in which things weren't this messed up.
She slipped on her favourite All-stars and walked downstairs. She didn't feel any need to open up the curtains in the living room, since the darkness outside didn't differ from the darkness inside very much.
When she walked into the kitchen and looked at the clock, she noticed it was half past eleven already.
'Holy crap,' she thought, stuffing a slice of bread in her mouth, 'I have to be at work at twelve o'clock!'
The pinkette grabbed an apple and walked out of the kitchen. When she searched the coat-rack for her jacket, she noticed it was gone. Mentally, she smacked herself, 'I must have forgotten it at Naruto's place.'
But she had to go to work, and so she opened the door and walked outside. She was immediately carried off of her feet by a sudden strong breeze and an avalanche of cold raindrops. Sakura shivered for the umpteenth time this morning and hugged her almost bare arms around herself. Luckily her vest did have a hood.
She looked up at the grey clouds and flinched as a crooked line of lightning filled the sky, followed by seconds of roaring thunder.
Without even thinking twice she started sprinting, and she didn't stop until she was inside of the supermarket.
The pinkette wrung her hair out with her hands, earning a disapproving, ''M-mmh?'' from her boss. He was swiftly making his way over to the girl, towering over her, ''Haruno, you are not paid to besmirch this floor with rain-water,'' He barked.
''I'm sorry, mr. Stephens,'' Sakura said. After flicking her hair over her shoulder one more time, 'accidentally' wetting the middle aged man in the process, she walked over to a cash desk and sat down.
After a few hours of just sitting and waiting for customers to come, suddenly a little girl approached the cash desk with a stuffed shopping basket. She lifted it up and put it on the desk, pretending she could carry it without any difficulty. The concentrated look on her small face revealed the opposite was going on, though.
''Hello, Hanabi,'' Sakura said, smiling.
The girl looked up with her big, lavender coloured eyes and brushed a strand of raven hair out of her face, ''Hi, Sakura!''
Hanabi was Hinata's little sister and looked just like her with her pale skin and hair that was so black that it almost looked midnight blue. Sakura used to babysit her, and even now they ran in to each other often since one of Hanabi's chores was grocery shopping.
''-Sakura, are you alright?'' the little girl asked Sakura as the pinkette moved Hanabi's groceries through the laser.
Sakura looked up, ''Of course, why are you asking?''
''You're shivering all over. You look like you caught a cold,'' Hanabi said, putting her groceries in the shopping bag she brought and handing Sakura the money that was needed.
''Don't be silly,'' Sakura said, taking the money with a smile on her face, ''I'm fine.'' That sentence lost some of it's credibility, though, when Sakura sneezed loudly.
Hanabi raised an eyebrow at her, ''You sure?''
''Yes!'' Sakura said, giving the young girl a small wave.
''-Okay then,'' Hanabi muttered before waving at Sakura, turning away from her and leaving the shop.
Sakura looked around and scanned the supermarket for anybody that was looking at her. She slowly touched her forehead with her hand, 'I do feel kind of warm, though...'
But Sakura could not be sick. If she was sick, she wouldn't be able to gain money. Her mother depended on her, whether she appreciated her daughter's hard work or not.
About half an hour later, Sakura noticed her head was hurting a little.
She looked around. At the moment, there was not a single customer in the entire shop. Of course there wasn't. Who would go out in this stormy weather?
...Well, Hanabi, of course, but her and Hinata's parents were very strict. That was the reason she ran her errands each and every Saturday, whether it was sunny, raining or there was a four feet thick layer of snow.
With a soft moan, Sakura rested her head on the cool, iron cash desk. That felt better.
She didn't know how long she had been laying there when somebody poked her in the shoulder, ''-Sakura, are you alive?''
Sakura lifted her head up, and looked straight into the face of one of her colleagues, ''Yes, I'm fine. What is it?'' She blinked when she noticed her vision was a bit blurry.
''It's five o'clock. We can go home.''
''Oh, right,'' Sakura muttered, rubbing her temples in a fruitless attempt to stop the pain her headache was giving her, ''Thanks for telling me. Have a nice weekend.''
''Yeah,'' The girl said before turning away from Sakura and walking out through the sliding doors. Through the glass, Sakura saw her flinching at the heavy rainfall, opening up her umbrella and walking to the right, disappearing out of sight.
The pinkette sighed, rubbed her eyes and clumsily got up. When she passed a window on her way to the door and caught a glimpse of her reflection, she sighed. Her hair was standing on it's ends and she looked as if she had just survived a tornado. She was almost happy her vision wasn't at it's best. The teenage girl muffled a cough behind her hand.
Sighing, she walked through the doors and into the horrible weather. She pulled the hood from her vest further over her head, but it didn't help. The rainwater soaked the hood so badly that her hair got wet anyway.
It looked like the rainfall was even worse from how it had been that morning.
She thought of sprinting like she had earlier that day, but when she tried, she had only been sprinting about two feet when she lost her footing and crashed into a garbage can. Groggily, she crawled away from the garbage can and got onto her feet.
Sprinting hadn't been such a good idea. She clenched her hood as a sudden breeze tugged at her hair and tried pulling the fabric from her head.
'Okay, let's walk. Let's just walk.' The soaked girl thought as she wobbly made her way through the street.
But her head ached so much. And she was so cold. And her vision was so blurred. And her feet hurt. And she was so wet.
''-Sakura?" A voice called out to her all of a sudden, carried by the wind.
''I-is that you, God?'' Sakura muttered, trying to make out the more than just the silhouette of the person standing quite a distance away from her, on the wet pavement.
''What are you talking abou- Hey, Sakura. Are you alright? Sakura?'' The person yelled panicky. But Sakura couldn't concentrate. Her head ached and her eyelids drooped. Her skin felt so cold, and the raindrops cut into her flesh like tiny needles.
That was about the moment everything went black.
'Warmth.'
That was the first thing that ran through Sakura's head as she gained consciousness.
''Where am I?'' She muttered. She wasn't outside anymore, that was certain.
Covering her was something soft and warm.
'Am I dead?'
No, she couldn't be. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, but she could tell that wherever she was, it was too dark to be heaven. Or hell for that matter.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and she looked straight into the face of her homeroom teacher.
''Argh! Mr. Kakashi?'' She screamed, crawling away from the face with as much speed as she could muster having just woken up. Too bad she had been lying on a bed, resulting in the girl now falling flat on her face on the wooden floor. Still panic-stricken, she blindly crawled further, now and then almost losing her balance because of the objects that were scattered all over the room. She clenched her forehead. Moving so recklessly it was only natural she bumped her head against a drawer.
''Argh! Mr. Kakashi?''
'Thud!'
Naruto looked up from the magazine he was reading. Was Sakura awake already?
'Clang!'
''Ouch! Damn you, world! Why do you hate me so?''
Naruto sweat dropped. Yep, she was awake.
Reluctantly, he stood up and made his way over to his bed room. As he opened the door and took in the messy room, he immediately spotted Sakura lying on the floor. She was partly sitting up, her back resting against the wooden drawer, her hands were clenching her forehead and the back of her head, and her legs were spread out in front of her.
She was still wearing her clothes she had been wearing when she had fainted in front of him earlier that afternoon. The only thing he had dared to take off was the red jacket she had worn. He had been too scared she would wake up and think he was raping her.
''Er, you alright?'' He asked her awkwardly, not moving away from his spot in the doorway.
She peeked up through the bangs that normally covered her eyes, ''Naruto? Where am I- Is this your bedro- Did you help me?'' She stuttered, seemingly stunned.
Naruto pursed his lips, ''Is me helping somebody this hard to believe?''
"Do you really want to know the answer to that question?'' Sakura asked him.
Naruto smirked, ''Nah, not really.''
Sakura also felt the corners of her mouth tugging up in a smile. The smile was kind of crooked because she felt sick and because the back of her head and her forehead hurt as a result of her reckless attempt to get away from her homeroom teacher.
That reminded her...
She looked up at the bed, looking for any sign of mr. Kakashi. Again, she saw his face lying there, partly hid behind the pillows.
She flinched, pointing towards the bed, ''Na-Naruto? What is our teacher doing in your bedroom?'' Her question sounded more like a statement.
Naruto followed the direction of her index finger. He snickered and walked up to the bed.
Sakura's eyes widened as the blond pulled out a big plushie from behind the pillows, ''Do you mean this teacher?''
...It was a plushie. A fucking plushie.
Yeah, she felt pretty stupid at that moment.''Do I want to know why you own a plushie that looks like mr. Kakashi?'' Sakura asked Naruto, not tearing her eyes away from the object in his hands.
''I don't remember, actually. I believe my dad once bought it for me.''
Sakura was silent for a while, 'They sell these things?'
''What were you doing outside, anyway? You weren't even wearing a raincoat,'' Naruto said, placing the plushie back on the bed.
''I forgot my jacket at your place, didn't I?''
''Yes, and I was coming to bring it to you at the supermarket. I didn't expect you to go outside without a coat.''
''I was... In a hurry this morning.''
''Why didn't you just wear somebody else's jacket? Your mom's or your dad's?''
''They... Er... Were wearing the other coats themselves,'' Sakura lied. Naruto had been nice to her lately, very nice. But... she couldn't help but not trusting him entirely, yet. She would tell him the truth later.
She slowly got up, flinching when a flash of pain seemed to cut through her flesh.
''Hey, be careful!'' Naruto shouted, supporting her back, ''You have a fever, you idiot! Don't just stand up like that.''
He helped her as she stumbled towards the bed and lied down once again. He covered her with the sheet that had slipped off of her when she had frantically crawled out of bed and sat down on the side of the bed, ''Just stay here for the night, ok?''
''Hey, Naruto,'' She whispered.
He turned his head to look at her, ''What is it?''
''What time is it?''
''It's seven o'clock,'' He said. He suddenly remembered he hadn't let her know anything about her parents. She had to be worried about them not knowing where she was, ''I looked up your telephone number in the phone book, but nobody answered the phone at your house.''
''That's ok. They probably aren't very worried,'' her eyelids drooped, ''...Hey, Naruto.''
''What?''
''Thanks for everything...''
The blond furrowed his brows and turned his head away from her, ''It's ok.'' he muttered, ignoring the heat rushing to his cheeks.
He looked down at the girl's emotionless, sleeping face.
Why had he helped her in the first place? He had wanted to bring her that jacket to get her to trust him, but why had he picked her up when she fainted? What had brought him to carry her all the way to his house? He could have warned somebody in the supermarket and left her there. He could have done all kinds of things that had been easier and more logical, so why? Why had he-
His thoughts were interrupted by the ringtone of his cell phone. He stood up and hurried out of the room, scared it might wake his 'guest' up.
''Naruto talking,'' he said, annoyed with the person that had interrupted his thoughts like that.
''Hello Narutooo,'' a high-pitched voice sang into it's owner's cell phone. In the background chattering, yelling and laughing could be heard.
"Hey, Ino. What's up?''
''Well, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Hinata, Shino and me are at my place. Kiba braught some beer and it's really fun! You coming?''
''Sure! I'm comi-'' He paused. Sakura was in his apartment, and she had a fever. He couldn't leave her here by herself.
''Helloooo? You still there?'' Ino called out impatiently.
''Yeah. Sorry, Ino. Sakura's here.''
''Forehead?'' Ino mused, ''Seriously? At your place? Aren't you taking this revenge thing a little too seriously? I mean, you wouldn't want your social life to suffer from it, right?''
''Yeah, I know. I just want to make sure she really trusts me, you know?''
''Well, alright. If that's what you want,'' She muttered. He could practically hear his other friends casting her confused glances.
''Bye,'' He said.
He trudged over to the couch and plopped down. The blond reached out one tanned hand and used it to turn on the television. Oprah Winfrey was on.
He stared at the screen, but didn't actually pay attention to the programme.
The first reason was that he really didn't give a shit about the crying housewives that each had some dramatic story involving themselves and their husbands. The second reason was that he was tired as hell.
Naruto's stomach growled. It wasn't until that moment that he noticed he was starving. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. He got up from the couch, not bothering to turn of the television, and strolled over to the kitchen. As he opened the cupboards, he noticed the entire cabinet was filled with nothing but instant ramen. He snickered at his own idiocy and grabbed a carton of ramen. He was about to close the cupboard when he thought of something. He grabbed a second one and then stood up to put them in the microwave.
About five minutes later, he opened the door that led to his bedroom and walked up to the sleeping girl. He chuckled. She was sleeping in the exact same position he always did; the blanket nowhere to be found, her body lying on it's side and the Kakashi plushie clasped between her arms and legs.
''Hey,'' He said, ''Sakura!''
The pink haired girl grunted, released the plushie from the suffocating grasp she had had on it and rolled over, now facing him, ''Whaddizit?'' She slurred.
''Eat,'' He ordered, holding one of the bowls of ramen he had prepared out to her.
Sakura sat up, rubbing her eyes,''Wha-er... Okay, thanks,'' She stuttered, noticing the bowl lingering inches away from her face. She stiffly grabbed it and put it down on her lap. The teen looked up just in time to see Naruto walk through the bedroom door and close it behind him.
She blew a strand of pink hair out of her face, flabbergasted. Why would he first prepare dinner for her that she didn't even ask for, and then walk away as if he was pissed off for having to do it?
She looked down at the bowl, letting the vapour coming from it warm her face up. She'd probably never understand guys... Especially not the blond whose house she was crashing at that moment.
Sakura ate the rest of her ramen slowly, and then slipped out of Naruto's bed for a toilet break. She tip-toed across the room, careful not to break anything. As quietly as she could, she opened the bedroom door and poked her head around the corner. She looked into a small hallway that led to a messy living room. There was a door in the right wall of the living room that Sakura assumed was a kitchen, and behind it there was another one that had a small sign hanging from it. It read the word, 'bathroom'. From the living room, some sounds could be heard that were presumably coming from the television.
After she was sure Naruto wasn't there, she hopped over to the bathroom. Half way across the living room, though, she was startled by an orange speck she noticed from the corner of her eyes.
Already heaving her arms up, ready to yelp that she was only going to the bathroom, she turned to the speck.
She immediately lowered her arms. Naruto had sunk further in the sofa, his chin resting on the arm of the couch. His mouth was hanging open slightly, and he was snoring. He was clutching the empty bowl he had been eating ramen from in his hands. Sakura couldn't supress a chuckle.
After she went to the bathroom, she again passed Naruto. Once again her face turned towards him. She stopped in her tracks.
He had taken care of her so well earlier that evening; she couldn't leave him lying there like that. She scanned the rest of the room for any sign of anything she could use as a blanket. The pinkette bit her lip. She didn't see anything. And so she tip-toed over to the bedroom and took the blanket from his bed. She walked back to the living room and took a few steps in Naruto's direction. She clumsily wiggled the bowl he was holding out of his grip and covered him with the blanket. She then picked up the black remote that was lying on the low, glass table and used it to turn off the television.
When Sakura was lying in the bed again, she thought over the occurrences of that day. She was worried about her mom; what if she had had no dinner? What if the blanket had slipped off again? She was worried about all of the chores that were awaiting her at home; hovering the stairs and hallways, working in the garden, cleaning the living room, calling somebody to repair the water-boiler and the cooker hood, paying the bills.
But mostly, her mind was on Naruto.
Sakura rolled on her side. After four years of bullying, why would he be so nice all of a sudden? All of this just didn't make sense!
'-Except,' She thought, 'What if he feels sorry for bullying me? What if he wants to make it up to me?'
It could be possible. Maybe he hadn't noticed how much pain it had caused the girl until a week before. After all; pain lives inside, not outside.
Yes, that was probably it.
Sakura sneezed, 'Being ill sucks.'
When Sakura woke up the next morning, she felt disorientated. The room she had been sleeping in wasn't hers. She looked around groggily, trying to get a clear view of her surroundings.
Her eyes widened. Everything came back to her.
Had Naruto woken up already?
Ignoring the dizziness that took over, she stumbled out of the bed and towards the door. Like she had done last evening, she slowly opened the door and scanned the hallway and the part of the living room that was visible for the blond teen. She could see him walking into the kitchen, clad in new clothing. His hair was wet and stuck to his forehead. He looked as if he had just showered. He hadn't noticed her yet.
Sakura walked back into the room and towards the mirror that hung above a cabinet. She looked at her reflection and, not entirely sure why, tried fixing her hair.
When she found she looked a bit better, she swung open the bedroom door and walked into the living room.
She walked over to the kitchen and tapped her knuckle against the wooden doorpost, ''Good morning, Naruto.''
Naruto flinched and almost dropped whatever he was holding as he cast a glance over his shoulder.
He turned back to the kitchen sink, ''Yeah, hi.''
Neither of them said anything for a while. Sakura kept standing in the doorway, taking in the kitchen.
''Sakura,'' Naruto said all of a sudden.
Sakura looked back to Naruto, ''-Er, yes?''
The blond put what he had been holding on the kitchen sink and turned around. Sakura noticed he had been making a sandwich. A barrel of peanut-butter stood on the stone sink, the plastic lid next to it as well as a knife.
''You feeling better?''
''Er, yes I do. Thanks,'' Sakura said, ''Not only for asking, but also for... You know, taking me when I-...''
''That's ok,'' He said, turning back to the sandwich, ''D'you want some breakfast or something?''
''Nah,'' Sakura said, ''I think I should go home. Thanks for your hospitality,'' She turned away from the blond.
''Hostility?'' Naruto muttered, ''Stop talking like an old man.''
Sakura pursed her lips, ''I like talking like an old man, I guess.'' 'Better than talking like some kind of barbaric teenage R&B-star,' She thought. She didn't say that out loud, of course.
''Could you tell me where my jacket is?'' She asked after another short pause.
''I put it on the heater underneath the window last night, so it could dry."
Sakura looked back into the living room - which was hard, since the curtains were still closed there - and, indeed, noticed her red jacket draped over the heater. She walked over to the windows and pulled the curtains open.
Her jaw dropped. It must have been very early, because the sun had only just climbed up until just above the skyscrapers in the distance. The rain had stopped. The sun was coloured a light yellow. The clouds were underlined with gold, the sky behind it was fading from yellow, to orange, to pink, to an icy blue and those colours were only emphasized by the morning mist that blurred them all together.
She heard footsteps from behind her and knew Naruto was approaching.
''You like it?'' he asked her.
Sakura could only nod, ''It's amazing. I've never seen anything like it.''
''During summer, I often fall asleep on the roof and get to see both the sunrise and the sunset from there. It's what I like the best.''
''It must be amazing. Living in a place this high, I mean.''
''Yes, it is. Kind of lonely, though.''
Sakura kept silent. Telling him she was lonely as well didn't make sense; she had told him her parents loved each other and they loved their daughter as well. Although, in fact, she wasn't sure if they even wanted her as a daughter.
Her father was gone and he wasn't coming back. Her mother was gone, too.
Well, of course, her mother was still here. But she wasn't who she used to be.
Sakura thought about all of this, trying to make him think she was still amazed by the sunrise.
She bended over and grabbed her vest. Suddenly she remembered he still had her jacket.
''Your other jacket is hanging from the hallstand,'' He said, not taking his eyes away from the spectacle of coloured splashes in the distance. It was like he could read her mind.
Sakura nodded and turned back to the living room. She was surprised. It looked so different in the daylight.
Of course, it was still a bit grey and empty, aside from the coloured paintings and the surprisingly many books that were piled up high on each and every table and cabinet, but the light added a little more colour.
Sakura put on her vest, taking in the paintings. Her attention was attracted by a wooden painter's easel in the middle of the room. She peeked at Naruto from the corner of her eyes. He was still captivated by the beauty of the sunrise.
Careful not to attract his attention, she tip-toed over to the painter's easel and looked at the painting on it.
It was a picture of two people, each walking on one side of a young, blond boy. They were all smiling, each holding an ice pop. The person on the left side of the boy was a blond man with sapphire blue eyes, and the person on the right a woman with red hair that cascaded down her back. Sakura gulped. She felt as if she had invaded somebody's privacy. This painting looked too... Too personal. She was sure she wasn't meant to see it.
She took a few steps away from the painter's easel and called out, ''-I, er... Should go now. Thanks for everything.''
Without giving Naruto the chance to reply, she hopped over to the hallway, grabbed her jacket and walked through the door.
Naruto turned away from the window and watched the pink haired girl stumbling out of the room. She didn't even seem to notice she was bumping into things in the process.
What a weirdo.
The door slammed shut.
He sighed. His eyes unwillingly went to the caramel coloured couch and the blanket that was draped over the elbow-rest.
He had noticed it this morning. He had woken up underneath a blanket he was sure had been on his bed the evening before.
'That selfless idiot,' He had thought, smiling. But he hadn't been able to bring himself to thank her, being the proud person he was. He would do so some other time, he figured.
He leaned back against the window. Everything was going well. That girl was coming to trust him more every day.
Soon, everything would be alright. He could tell her the truth, she would be hurt and they would be even.
He took out his cell phone from his pocket.
'You guys coming to my house later?' He texted. He selected Sasuke and Ino as the receivers of the text-message and sent it.
It took only minutes for Ino to reply with a, 'Sure! I'll be at ur place 'round 2 o'clock. U got a movie or sumtin? X'
Next came Sasuke's message; 'Yes.'
It'd feel good to have some fun with his real friends.
When Sakura came home, everything was just the way she expected it; Dark and silent.
She removed her shoes and put her jacket away. When she cast the back door a glance, she noticed there were tiny, muddy paw-prints leading from the cat flap to the kitchen. Sakura giggled, until she remembered her cat hadn't gotten any food yesterday evening. She ran to the kitchen and found her cat sitting next to it's food bowl, pushing it from right to left with it's paw. It turned it's head towards it's owner, it's eyes accusing.
''I'm sorry, Primrose!'' Sakura called out, pulling out the bag of cat food from a cabinet and putting a handful in the cat's iron bowl. The white cat mewed once before attacking the food. Sakura turned around and stretched her muscles.
Still stretching, she walked over to the big windows and opened them up, closing her eyes to the fresh wind.
The pinkette then turned away from the windows and prepared some food for her mother.
Loaded with a heavy tray with a sandwich, a bowl with a fruit salad and a glass of orange juice on it, Sakura kicked open the kitchen door and wobbled over to the living room.
''Good morning, mom,'' She said, forcing a smile for the miserable woman sitting in the chair. Sakura couldn't really make out anything in the darkness, so she first put down the tray on something that she assumed was a table and walked over to the windows. She opened the curtains and walked back to the tray. The pinkette closed her pale hands around it and carried it towards her mother, ''Look, mom. I brought you some food.''
She put it on the coffee table before the fauteuil and sat down on the couch beside it.
The red haired woman still hadn't moved an inch. She looked worse. There were dark circles underneath her eyes, her cheeks looked hollow, her body looked even more skinny than the last time Sakura saw her, her shoulder-length crimson hair had lost all of it's glossiness and stuck in strands to her forehead.
Sakura became worried. Was she even breathing?
Yes, she was. If the pinkette concentrated, she could hear her mother's shallow breathing.
''Mom, wake up, come on. You have to eat,'' Sakura said, poking her mother in the knee softly. She became worried, ''Mom? Come on!''
Sakura got to her feet and walked over to her mother. She shook her shoulders, ''Mom? Mom?''
The lean woman didn't move an inch.
The pinkette didn't know what to do. Should she bring her to a doctor? But how? She didn't even have a bicycle!
Sakura started trembling. She closed her eyes and tilted her chin up, taking big gulps of air. She had to keep herself from hyperventilating. She seized her cell phone from the pocket of her vest, hoping it still worked after the storm from yesterday. The light pink screen greeting her let her know that this was the case. Not knowing what else to do, she selected the only name in the list and pressed the green button.
I bet you're all wondering what's wrong with Sakura's mother, right?
Yep. I am, too.
...No, honestly. I couldn't sleep yesterday, and then I thought of something being wrong with Sakura's mother. I have an idea, but I'm sure you guys can think of something way better.
...Just tell me if you have an idea!
Oh, and an important message: (I'll type it in bold letters, just to emphasize it's greatness) I'm in need of a BETA-reader. Ubernaut pointed that fact out to me, and I am very thankful. I'm glad somebody told me my English has some flaws. I mean, of course, English isn't my first language, but I didn't have any idea my English was disturbing, ghehe. I can be such a douche if I feel like it.
If you agree to be my BETA-reader, please review or pm me. I would appreciate it very much! 3
~Lion3queen