Sakura stepped through the bathroom door and into the great hall once more, feeling less annoyed at Naruto than she had been before. She didn't know what was wrong with him, did she? He might just have a good reason for not enjoying her company.

She pushed and pulled her way through the crowd to the place where she had last seen Naruto, only to find that he had vanished. She spun around and searched the sea of people for a spiky blond head.

''Are you looking for Naruto?'' A masculine voice asked her. When Sakura looked up at the man's face, she was met up with a face she did not recognize. The face belonged to a man with long, grey hair and odd red marks on his face, running from his eyes to his jaw. His face was quite wrinkled, but his eyes still had that sparkle normally found in only younger people. Sakura wasn't sure of his age. ''Oh, wait, of course!'' He laughed suddenly, ''You probably don't know who I am, do you?"

''Er-''

''-My name is Jiraiya, I'm Naruto's caretaker.''

''Oh! You're Jiraiya? Nice to meet you, sir. My name is Sakura.''

''Naruto has told me so much about you,'' He grinned. ''He cares about you a lot, you know.''

''He cares about you, too,'' Sakura laughed.

''But I'm drifting off,'' Jiraiya stated suddenly, ''I just saw Naruto walking out through the doors. If you see him, tell him I'm going home at eleven o'clock.''

Sakura turned around and gave the man a quick wave. ''I will, thank you!''

By the time she finally reached the door, Naruto and Sasuke were standing face to face, the first sporting an angry expression on his face, the latter an empty one. Sakura quietly stepped onto the terrace, attempting to find out what they were talking about. They hadn't noticed her yet.

''-the smaller the chance that she'll forgive you.'' Sasuke said.

Forgive Naruto? Who? Forgive him what?

''Shut up! If you tell her, I'll-'' That was Naruto.

''What will you do? You know I'm right. You know.''

''If I tell her that the reason I became friends with her was because of a bet with Ino, that I actually hated her and looked down on her as much as the others, that Ino pushed me into pretending to fall in love with her-''

And then Sakura realized who they were talking about. She had no idea what her reaction had been, all she knew is that it must have been quite a startling one, because both boys snapped their heads around, eyes large and round.

The words Naruto had spoken echoed around in her head, drowned out by the deafening beating of her heart sounding loudly in her ears.

Sakura was barely aware of the blond gasping her name.

The world seemed to disappear from all around her, leaving nothing but a pitch black background. The beating of her heart grew louder and louder, drumming in her ears. Her vision became hazy, the colours blurred together.

Sakura heaved her hand up and touched her face. Tears.

There were tears coming from her eyes.

She let them flow. They meandered down her cheeks, tickling her face. The girl opened her mouth to breathe in. The tears tasted salt on her tongue.

''Y-You…'' She faltered, barely above a whisper, ''-You… It was all fake?''

Sakura didn't understand Naruto's reply. His voice seemed to come from afar and it echoed around in her head, making the words he said hard to understand.

''-This can't be right…'' She stuttered to nobody in particular, even though she was sure the two teens could hear her, ''I had made a friend… I made a friend! This can't be right!''

Her hands shot up and covered her mouth, making the rest of the words she sputtered out sound like a bunch of hiccups and gasps, "This can't be right, Naruto… Tell me it's a joke."

Sakura didn't hear the blonde's reply, but words weren't needed. His face told her everything.

The pinkette spun on her heels and dashed away with as much speed as she could muster, her dress fluttering behind her. She did not look behind her; it hurt too much.

She wiped the tears away from her eyes with her arm. She had waited to clear her view because she didn't want Naruto to see her weak like this. No doubt that was what he wanted.

'A joke,' Sakura repeated in her head, 'It was all a joke.'

The girl didn't know where to run off to. All she knew was that she wanted to get away from that place. And that was exactly what she did.

The people driving past her in their cars all turned their heads to look at her, but Sakura didn't care. She felt humiliated, angry, hurt and above all alone.

She finally left the road leading to the hotel and ran in the direction of town.

'I should have known,' She thought, her vision becoming blurry once again, 'Why would somebody like him have wanted to be my friend?' The girl sped up slightly, 'So why didn't I? Why didn't I see it?'

Beautiful things like bullies falling in love with nerds... They didn't happen. Not in real life. Yeah, in chickflicks. In movies and in books. Not in the real world. Not in Sakura's life, anyway.

Sometimes, fairy tales are so amazingly beautiful that one simply can't accept that's all they are. Fairy tales. Fantasies. Stories made up to teach kids to do as they are told, to be honest and kind.

Stories. Lies.

Images started to form in Sakura's head. They were memories, she realized. Naruto talking to her beside the fountain. Naruto helping her when she was sick. Naruto eating ice cream with her. Naruto staying with her, comforting her when her mother left their house. Her teaching Naruto how to dance, and then him teaching her how to play football.

The girl stopped running altogether, almost tripping on the hem of her dress. Sakura grabbed a hold of a street lantern so she wouldn't fall over. She rested her forehead against the cool, iron object. Cars kept on driving by, a few honking at her.

''Why was I so stupid?'' She asked rhetorically. The boy had set up a trap for her and she had fell, no, jumped into it.

The sounds of swift footsteps approaching reached her ears, but Sakura didn't look around. She knew who was coming.

''Sakura?'' the person panted.

The girl didn't move.

Sakura could tell Naruto was completely out of breath by the sound of his heavy breathing. And, noticing he was a football player, that meant he had run very, very fast. But Sakura was still faster than him. Regardless of the sadness and disappointment she felt at that moment, the thought of being better than Naruto at something still made her feel smug.

Well, kind of.

''It was all make believe, wasn't it?''

''Look, Sakura, this was all a mistake-'' Naruto spluttered.

Sakura couldn't stop herself from letting out a bitter laugh. ''A mistake?'' Still, she didn't turn around. ''So you didn't fake wanting to be friends with me, just so you could hurt me in the end?''

The blond spluttered, ''I-Well-That's how it started, but-''

''I thought so.'' Sakura whispered.

''I never wanted it to be like this,'' Naruto said at last, so soft the girl almost didn't hear it.

Neither of them moved. Sakura noticed she had run all the way outside the town. They stood on a small path, with fields of grass on either side of it. The grass swayed in the gentle evening breeze.

''I'm leaving. Don't you think you hurt me enough for just one evening?" Sakura said, struggling to keep her voice steady. ''To be honest, I don't really see why everybody wants to see me in pain so much - why people think it's 'fun'. But I guess it's just how it's meant to be. I might as well accept it. Goodbye, Naruto.''

She attempted to walk into the direction of Konoha, where the city lights coloured the sky above town a bright yellow, but she had only taken a few steps until she realized a strong hand had curled around her arm and anchored her in place. Her head snapped up and, for the second time that evening, tears slipped down her cheeks. They lit up like tiny light bulbs in the glare of the passing cars.

''What is it, Naruto?'' She asked him, her voice finally breaking.

"Wait-" was all the boy could say. For some reason, his eyes were glistening unnaturally, making Sakura wonder whether he was going to cry as well. His expression was one of genuine hurt. Sakura didn't fall for it.

People had been lying to her all of her life. At a certain point she just couldn't tell what was the truth and what was a lie anymore. Or she just stopped trying altogether. Naruto had proven himself a great actor.

''At first, I was just acting, but later I-'' He paused, ''I discovered what kind of a great, beautiful person you are.'' He swallowed away a lump in his throat and continued in a soft, whispering tone. ''You make me want to be a better person myself, Sakura.''

The girl lowered her gaze to the ground.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

''Want to hear something funny?''

Naruto looked at her, not knowing what to expect.

''I haven't cried since I was a toddler. Not one tear. Not when Ino and- and you bullied me, not when my family fell apart... Never. And now, I'm actually crying. For you.'' Sakura sniffed audibly, her face hidden by pink bangs that had slipped out of the updo she was wearing. Then, unexpectedly, the girl snapped her head back up and looked him fiercely in the eyes, her own orbs filled with hurt and sincere odium, "I was in love with you, you know," she whispered.

Naruto's jaw dropped.

Silence fell between the teenagers, and for the first time since he had run after Sakura, he looked at her. Really looked at her.

He could see the wall the girl had built around her to protect the world from seeing the misery laying inside, breaking down, one piece at a time. The swollen eyes just added to the heart-wrenching picture.

He didn't know what to say.

Sakura took this as enough of an answer. ''Let go of me please.''

He didn't.

''Let go.''

He just stood there, staring at her in a daze.

''Get your fucking hand from my arm!'' The girl yelled then, her voice going high pitched for a moment.

''Wait, please-'' He started, his sapphire coloured eyes pleading. But Sakura was done here. She heaved her free arm up and punched him square in the face, just like that time in the school canteen. Only this time she wasn't sorry.

Naruto's grip on her arm loosened and she yanked it out of his grasp. She put her hand over her mouth and dashed away in the direction of town.

The girl looked over her shoulder only once.

She could see Naruto standing underneath the street lantern, clutching his cheek. He looked at her, sadness written all over his face. Sakura tore her eyes away from his and fixed them on the silhouette of the town stretched out in front of her.

She ran.