The Hidden Tragedy that is Sakura Haruno

(I don't own Naruto.)

Chapter 3

*Fast forward to Sakura, age 7*

It's been a year and a half since Sakura met Sarah. She spent a lot of time with her and truthfully her mother could give less of a shit if she was in or out of her house. Her mother remarried in that time. Married the man that used to touch her, he doesn't touch her anymore though. But he still beats her. Her mother thinks it's funny and that Sakura deserves it. Never stopping him or raising a finger to help.

With Sarah came happiness into her life. Finally. But she also had new demons to face as well. On top of the home abuse Sakura was now tormented at school. Sarah wasn't in her grade and couldn't be with her during the day so Sakura was alone. They made fun of her forehead and called her names like ugly and billboard brow.

Sakura cried herself to sleep many nights because of the ugly way she viewed herself.

Sarah helped though. Assuring Sakura, she was beautiful and that everything would be okay. Sarah was the only one who knew about Sakura's demons, the only one to dry her tears and to fight away the darkness.

Sarah had even demanded her cousin Sasuke watch out for Sakura while in classes so that she wouldn't feel so valuable. Sakura knew of him and that every girl was crazy about him but she had no time for silly crushes. He was very handsome and because she was around the Uchiha manor so much they had talked and hung out before but never without Sarah around. It was kind of awkward the first day she sat next to him in class, wondering if he even wanted to help her out.

When the crowd of girls made their way into the room they spotted her sitting next to him and ran over. Yelling things like 'He will never like you Sakura! Give up!' and 'Get away from our Sasuke-kun!' or 'Don't rub your ugly off on him!'

Sasuke simply looked over at the girls with a harsh glare and told them to 'Shut up and sit down.'

Sakura had her head down the whole time. It was her own little bubble of space that she used to control her surroundings. When the crowd of girls had disappeared she looked over at Sasuke and whispered a 'Thank you.' to him under her breathe.

Sasuke and Sakura seemed to have a mutually understanding from that point on. They were really friends but she always knew she could count on him. His dark eyes and hair reminded her of Sarah and it made her relaxed and comforted to be around him. He didn't mind having a fan girl blocker either.

It wasn't until Sakura kept showing up to school and his cousin's house with bruises that he took full notice of her. Their teacher would ask questions about the abusive state of her body but she always seemed to have an excuse. 'I fell at the park and hit my face off the bench.' 'I tripped down the steps this morning.' 'Sarah was training and I tried to help.'

Although Sarah was a Uchiha he doubted she would be able to create bruises that large. The teacher started to get used to Sakura being all ruffed up. Sakura even started to wear more clothes to stop the questions but Sasuke was sure something was wrong. He tried not to care, I mean he wasn't exactly friends with her so it was none of his business or concern why she was so ruffed up, so he just left it for someone else to worry about.

…

This night was extremely cold for some reason. The chill in the air went straight to the bone.

"Sakura! Get your ass down here!"

Sakura's step father had just beaten her for not doing the dishes as fast as he would have liked. She broke a plate over his head and ran upstairs. She was in the middle of packing her stuff to go to Sarah's when the voice reached her room.

"I'm going to beat you til you beg for death, you stupid ugly bitch!"

It was her mother. Sakura wanted so badly for her mother to love her. She for some reason could never let go of the idea of her and her mother being a family again. Having her mother turn on her like this was ripping her apart inside.

She quickly opened her window and jumped down. She hurt her ankle a bit with the landing but hearing her mother scream in a fit of rage as she reached Sakura's room to find the girl not there was enough to help her push it out of her mind as she ran for the Uchiha compound.

Sakura was beaten up extremely bad and was limping as she made her way to the main gate.

Something was wrong.

It was so quiet. There was no noise. Not a single person lined the street of the district.

Suddenly a scream was heard from inside and Sakura ran in to see who it was.

Bodies. Everywhere. Blood.

Sakura stopped in her tracks and puked. Everyone in Sarah's clan looked to have been murdered in cold blood.

Her eyes filled with water as she heard the scream again.

It defiantly wasn't Sarah's voice and Sakura stood there for a long while debating on whether she should investigate the screaming to see if she could help or to go find Sarah.

'Sarah means everything to you. Go to Sarah!' Her inner voice was screaming. Leaving the screaming of the boy in the distance Sakura ran to Sarah's house.

First she saw Sarah's father on the front porch. Sliced almost in half. Sakura's panic sky rocketed as she ran into the house screaming.

"SARAH! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

As she turned towards the kitchen she found Sarah's mother. Her body on the floor like she was no better than a common pig on the streets. Sakura couldn't stop the tears. She was having a full fledge panic attach when she turned the door to Sarah's room.

There she was.

As normal looking as she could be. Laying in her bed. Her eyes closed. A smile on her face.

If it wasn't for the blood soaking the blankets you could almost mistake her for sleeping.

Sakura ran over to the bed and grabbed her shoulders as she tried to shake her awake.

"Sarah! Open your eyes!"

The small girl didn't listen. Stayed in her peaceful looking slumber. Sakura was losing her mind as she trashed against the girl's small body.

"You Can't Leave Me Like This Sarah! You Can't!"

Sakura was hysterical now. Crying harder then she even thought she could. Clinging herself to the girl that was the only light in her dark world. The light that had now gone out.

Sakura wasn't sure how long she laid next to Sarah's body. Hours, Days, Weeks, just whispering things into her ear about how much she meant to her and silly stories of their fun times together.

She told her every secret she ever had, as silly or as serious as they were.

"I'm going to be a strong ninja just for you Sarah. I'm going to fulfill your dream. I'll do anything for you."

Soon people came to clean up the bodies and set everyone to rest. They found Sakura asleep next to the lifeless girl. When they woke her to question her she just kept saying,

"Don't make me leave her."

They pried Sakura from Sarah's body and took her to the hospital. From there she was put on heavy anti-depression medication and sent home…to her mother.

End.