Sakura stared at the prone figure of her cat lying on her bed. For a moment, she forgot that this was the same feline she had been wrestling with a second ago as its features had softened into a somewhat peaceful expression. But the pinkette knew it was an act. Wherever Yowai was involved, there was never peace especially if she felt entitled that you ought to attend to her very petty needs. She sighed wearily as she removed Yowai from her bed and placed her on the floor beside her suitcase. That would prove to the mammal that she too was mad at her.
How was she going to explain this to Asama-san? She had to apologize to him and Yukie-san for the extra trouble. Speaking of pending apologies, she ought to speak with Sasuke. Somehow, she had overstepped a line which she didn't know existed. She thought that he hated Itachi Uchiha so why did it sound like he was defending him? Was there something she was not getting?
All of a sudden, she felt very tired. The day had wearied her down, even though it was still midmorning. She was supposed to be watching Yukie-san and the filming crew in action but the thought of resting her head on the soft pillow she was given seemed very tempting. No, she mustn't think like that, she berated herself as she shook her head. Today was just one of her lazy days. She glanced at her bed longingly before she forced herself to leave the room, intent on apologizing to Yukie-san.
Sakura had managed to talk to Yukie-san and squeak a very embarrassed apology for bringing along her cat. Yukie-san hadn't even glanced at her as she rushed out of the dressing room to begin acting one of her scenes. Sakura was offended and reminded of Naruto's words the previous day of the actress being mean but she brushed it off. She was probably in a hurry.
When she joined Team Seven on the sidelines, watching as Yukie-san cried over her guard, Sakura forgot all about her terrible personality. She felt herself crying as Princess Fun expressed her pain. Until she paused to ask Asama-san to pass her some eyedrops so that she could cry. Everyone sweat dropped and even Naruto fell down to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut off for a dramatic effect.
When it was lunchtime, she went off to sit with Team Seven, despite having her doubts. It seemed that everyone was mad at her, with the exception of Hatake-senpai and Naruto. Naruto didn't count since he found almost no fault with her which genuinely annoyed her. Because hello! She was a freak of nature! Everything about her was weird, from her pink hair, oversized forehead and big brains. Not to mention her temper. She could be very mean. But somehow, he had a way of looking over her faults.
"So why are you here Sakura-chan? I didn't know you knew Princess Fun. You could've introduced me to her," Naruto asked as he slurped cup ramen. Sakura thought it was absolutely disgusting that he spoke with his mouth full but she refrained from commenting. "I actually didn't know that she existed until I met Asama-san. He was my employer before he left Konoha," she replied as she ate from a bento box she had received from one of the crew. "Yukie's manager was your boss? How cool! What did you do?" he asked as his eyes glimmered with excitement. She refrained herself from telling him off that it was rude to call people's names without some form of respect. He could at least call her Yukie-san. It's not like it'd kill him.
"I was his personal assistant," the civilian replied. "Really?! That's cool," he chirped as Ami rolled her eyes at his exuberance. "Hey! Why don't you become my personal assistant when I become Hokage? I promise I'll pay you generously and not overwork you," he said as if it was the brightest idea he had ever had. "I'll be too busy for that Naruto," she replied as her childhood bully snickered gleefully across her at her expense. "C'mon Sakura-chan! It'll be great, me and you-" "It's actually you and I," "-will make Konoha become the best village ever!" he exclaimed. Ami giggled with a mean look at Sakura. "I bet you'll be the most awesome duo the village has ever seen," the genin spoke. "Really?! Thanks Ami-chan. So what do you say Sakura-chan?" he asked with a pleading look in his eyes.
"I don't know Naruto. I have my whole life planned out, I can't just drop everything because of you," she tried to let him down as gently as she could because his face was too hopeful. "It'll be fine Sakura-chan. I'll even marry you!" the blonde exclaimed with a thumbs up. "M-Marry me?! That's absurd, we're just twelve!" she hated herself for stuttering. "I'm actually thirteen but that besides the point. I've liked you since forever Sakura-chan, it'll be great. I'll take care of you, dattebayo," Naruto stated with an air of overconfidence. From the corner of her eye, she could see Hatake-senpai and Sasuke-san staring at their little interaction curiously, though the Uchiha tried to be discrete about it by looking a little too hard at his food.
"Sakura and Naruto sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. Oh, this is too good to be true. Accept his offer Forehead. This might be the only offer you'll get," Ami spoke with a good natured smile. Bah, as if anything was ever good natured when it came to her. "She's right Sakura-chan," Naruto agreed with her. "What?" she got a whiplash as she turned to look at him incredulously. She felt her patience start to run out. "I heard that you aren't very popular with the boys at the civilian school and they make fun of you because of your forehead and temper. And also because you're a big nerd and act like a know it all every time. But I like you just the way you are. I'll even kiss your forehead to prove it," he said as he stood up to walk over to her.
Horror and rage froze her in place. He had just bared out all her insecurities like it was nothing. She felt her grip on her temper break at once but she had no strength to punch him or even run away. Naruto was going to kiss her forehead, her gigantic, ugly, hideous forehead which was the size of a billboard. Ami would get a good laugh at this.
At the last second, Naruto tripped over his foot and fell but managed to right himself. But not without dumping all of his cup ramen onto her hair and clothes. She felt the slimy noodles and soup drip down from her hair onto her face. Ami outright laughed at that as Naruto apologized profusely and attempted to remove the ramen from her hair but only ended up smearing it firmly into her carefully maintained hair.
With as much calmness as she could scrap from her empty reserves, she brushed Naruto's hands away from her head. But when she opened her mouth, all hell had broken loose.
"Naruto you baka! What is wrong with you?! I thought I made it clear that I'm not interested in any kind of relationship with you! It's bad enough that I have to breathe the same air as you for the next two weeks! Don't you ever mention my forehead, my temper or my habits!" she all but yelled at him. She could feel her tears mixing with ramen soup on her face. Several members of the crew had stopped to look at her in various degrees of wonder but she didn't care. She had to let it out.
"Didn't your parents teach you any better?! Oh, wait, you don't have any parents! I'm supposed to feel remorse for you that you're an orphan but I don't. I don't fucking care that you don't have parents! It's not my problem! It doesn't give you any right to play with my feelings like that. Do you think I enjoy being called a nerd or being bullied by my peers?! I don't! I would never consider marrying you even if you were the last person on Earth. You just-urgh!" she stomped away from him as she removed the ramen from her hair and throwing it to the wooden floorboards.
The pinkette went to her room to retrieve her toiletries and immediately headed to the washroom so that she could take a bath. She scrubbed at her hair in anger as she struggled to remove the limp noodles from her hair. It was only after an hour in the shower that her anger subsided and she could think more clearly.
And came the crushing guilt of the ugly words she had yelled at Naruto. Sure, he had angered her but that didn't give her the right to insult him because he was an orphan. "I am a such a an idiot, an idiot bigger than my forehead which is the size of the distance between Konoha and Suna," she muttered to herself.
"You can say that again."
She scrambled to cover herself with her drying towel as she stood naked under the shower but all she managed to do was drop the towel onto the wet tiles. "Dammit! Would you mind giving me some privacy?" she almost shouted in fright as she picked up the semi-wet towel and wrapped it around her body. "Well, there isn't much to see so I don't get why you're covering yourself up. And you're an idiot, how could you say those words to Naruto? Being an outcast in the village is bad enough for him. You just had to make fun of his parents," Ami spoke as she glared at him. All the guilt that she felt vanished instantly as she returned the glare.
"Pretty rich coming from the girl who bullied me during my entire childhood and destroyed every shred of confidence I had in myself!" she replied venomously. "Oh for fuck's sake, grow up Sakura. The world doesn't revolve around you. There are more pressing things than being bullied, like having your parents die on the day you were born!" the genin shouted at her. "You don't get to make fun of that Sakura. Try anything else but that topic is a no-no. Not that you'd understand anything. You've been sheltered all your life. Your parents are alive, you go to school, you don't have to work for anything. There's this thing called empathy Sakura. I thought you had it but it seems I thought to highly of you. I almost felt guilty for bullying you when we were younger. News flash Sakura, you're an even bigger bully than I'll ever be. At least I know boundaries." With that, Ami walked out of the washroom.
Tears blurred the civilian's vision as she slumped down to the tiles, not caring that her white towel was getting wet. She cried for all her insecurities, why did she allow herself to be weak over her forehead or her habits? She cried over Naruto, why had his parents abandoned him, why did he always appear as though it didn't matter to him that he was always alone, why was he so strong? She cried for all the bad words she had said to him. She had visited the Uchiha graveyard to make herself feel better that she was being a decent human being, why was she empathetic to the dead and mean to the living?"
The Haruno teen forced herself to get up from the floor and changed into another one of her qipao dresses and green shorts. Glumly, she made her way out of the washroom and dropped off her toiletries at her room before making her way to the set where Director Makino was barking orders to the crew. She caught his eye and saw a flash of disappointment before he turned back to work. Sakura swallowed thickly at the guilt that had settled in her stomach like a stone. She searched for Asama-san but he was talking to Yukie-san. No doubt, it was something important. She had to find Naruto but the boy was nowhere in sight.
She sighed. Was he purposefully avoiding her? It had been over two hours since she finished bathing but she hadn't even seen or heard of him. She used to hear him him at least a mile away. She passed by Ami on her way to the deck who gave her the filthiest stink eye she had ever seen on her face. She hung her head in shame as she trudged up to the top. Though nobody said anything to her, she could feel their eyes on her back.
"Sakura-chan, come here for a sec."
She raised her head to look at Hatake-senpai who was waving lightly at her. The civilian gulped as she followed the older shinobi who led her to a secluded section of the ship, the storeroom. It was covered with a light layer of dust and otherwise empty, save for a couple of brooms and mops in a corner.
"You're a big girl and I'm sure you don't need me to tell you what you did was wrong, despite Naruto provoking you in the first place. I just want to understand why you did that. I'm sure you have your reasons," he spoke. His eyes were unsmiling with a very serious expression with his arms akimbo. Immediately, Sakura burst into tears. She tried to hide her face behind her hair but she was shaking so bad, she failed miserably. Snot and tears were running down her face in an ugly mixture.
"I'm sorry Hatake-senpai. I didn't mean to. I lost control of my temper. I'm not a bad person, I swear!" she cried in between sobs. "Growing up, I've always been made fun of. I didn't expect Naruto-san to do it too, even if he didn't mean it. I just wanted him to feel the same way I did but I had no right to make fun of him being an orphan," she whimpered. "I promise you Hatake-senpai, I'll apologize. I'll never do it again! Don't break our friendship, please. I'm not the best person but I'll try to be better, shannaro!"
It was a long time before Sakura's sobs died down, leaving her feeling hollow and very tired. She sniffed miserably as she wiped her face with the skirt of her dress. Daring to look up at the silent shinobi, the pinkette found him looking at her with an unreadable expression. She didn't know how long she looked at him before tears started to form in her eyes again. She knew it! He was going to leave her alone, she was a terrible person. No one would want to befriend her now. No one wanted an unemphatic friend.
"I'm not going to leave you. Please don't cry, I'm not good at comforting," Hatake spoke with a sigh. Sakura willed herself not to cry, though her eyes were heavy with unshed tears. "Come here," he beckoned her to come over. She made her way over to him. He patted her head lightly as he crouched low to her eye level. "I know you made a mistake and it's clear you're sorry. I have not need for any more words. Just go and apologize to Naruto, and Sasuke too. They're a little troubled due to some tragic events in their lives so they might not be like the normal person. I hope you understand that," he said with an eye smile. Sakura nodded mutely as embarrassment threatened to make her cry again. "I promise," she breathed out.
The man heaved himself up and put a little distance between them as he stared at her curiously. "Quick question. Do you have any friends or have you ever had any friends?" he asked her. Sakura shook her head. "I've never had any friends. Any attempt to befriend me was always a prank. Plus I was bullied when I was younger about my forehead so I lost all confidence. When I went to school, I thought everyone would want to be my friends if I knew all the answers but it turned out to be quite the opposite. Not to mention my hair color. Pink isn't very common," she replied dully. "Well then, I guess you're a little troubled too. Don't worry, we'll figure it out. For now, you have some apologies and hugs to give," he said as he ushered her out of the storeroom.
Sakura found Naruto locked up in his shared room with the rest of Team Seven. Ami and Sasuke were present too and she figured she might as well apologize to them too for her behavior.
Hatake-senpai had told her that the boy hadn't left the room since their fight and refused to speak with anyone. She hovered in front of their door, gave herself a mini prep talk before knocking. It was Ami who had answered the door and slammed it shut when she saw her face. After a minute, the door opened again and a slight nod from the girl told her to enter.
Naruto was curled up on a sleeping mat, his back turned to the door. "Ano, Naruto-san. I'd like to speak with you," she said in a small voice. The blonde didn't reply. "Naruto-san?" she inquired again. Ami snorted as she rolled her eyes. "Get the hint Forehead. He doesn't want to talk to you. Now get out, you've seen for yourself that you disgust him," the genin spat out. "Naruto-san! Please, just let me say this. It's okay if you don't want to speak to me ever again," she pleaded. The Uzumaki sat up but didn't turn to look at her. She had his attention. Ami was glaring at her and Sasuke was doing the same from the corner he sat.
"Words cannot express how deeply and truly sorry I am for what I said to you. You were saying what you thought was best for me, with equally good intentions. I'm sorry for lashing out at you and making fun of you for not having parents. I wouldn't want to lose my parents and have someone make fun of it. It's okay if you don't forgive me but I'm really sorry," she said as she bowed low at a ninety degree angle. At the silence that ensured, tears threatened to start falling again but instead she felt herself being raised to stand upright from her bow.
Naruto was standing in front of her. She noticed that his eyes were very blue and clear. That made her also notice the redness of his eyes and the unshed tears which were glistening. "It's okay Sakura-chan. I'm not an easy person to like. I was surprised that you hadn't exploded at me even earlier than that. I'm not known to have the most interesting personality. I was hurt, very much. I still feel the pain now. Not because you made fun of me because I don't have parents. I've always had people making fun of me ever since I was born so I don't care. But it was because it was you who said it. I like you Sakura-chan, I like you very much. Sometimes I wish I didn't. So it just hurt hearing you say that. I get that you don't like me too but you don't have to be mean about it," he told her truthfully. She couldn't help the tears that fell. She had lost count of how much she had cried that day.
"I know. I'm sorry Naruto. I'm such a terrible person. I had no right to say that. I'm so sorry, I really am," she cried with her head hung low. "Woah, you really are sorry. I've never had someone cry whilst apologizing to me. Ami-chan usually bonks me on the top of my head then says sorry without a shred of remorse," he stated as he looked at her in wonder. "What do you think you baka? You think I'm faking the tears and the guilt?" she snapped at him as she glared through tear ladden lashes. "No! Of course not! I believe you Sakura-chan, dattebayo. I forgive you," he said the last part softly.
"Really?" she asked pitifully as a flicker of hope started in her chest. She was feeling as though she was the most terrible person in all the lands and if she didn't earn his forgiveness, she didn't know how she was going to live with the guilt. Naruto nodded cheerfully. "I should probably apologize too. I shouldn't have said that to you or pestered you to like me back. That was manipulation at it's highest level, using your weaknesses like that," he spoke. "Did you hit your head or something? Because that sounded very mature," she joked lightly. "I can be pretty wise too!" the blonde defended himself. Sakura chuckled silently.
"But I really am sorry. I won't pester you again to like me back. That doesn't mean I've stopped liking you. Just you know, in the event that you so happen to like me back," he said cheekily. "Naruto," she warned him with a glare. "There's the Sakura-chan I know. I thought you had been reduced to a crying mess because of a little fight," the Uzumaki spoke with a teasing grin. He earned a smack to the back of his head.
Sakura turned to face Sasuke who was looking at her with narrowed eyes. "I also want to apologize to Sasuke-san. I overstepped my boundaries. I shouldn't have spoken carelessly like that. Knowing he was your brother, it must've hurt to bring up painful memories. I might not understand the depth of your pain but I hope that someday, I can understand," she spoke with the most apologetic expression she could muster. Sasuke looked at her for a long time before he turned away from her with a muttered "whatever."
She turned to look at Ami who was glaring at her. "Don't you have something to say to me?" she asked her with a raised eyebrow. Since everyone was apologizing with the exception of Sasuke who had nothing to apologize for, she thought maybe Ami would apologize too. The purple haired genin scoffed as she rolled her eyes. "If you think I'm going to apologize for bullying you then think again coz I won't ever be doing that. Grow a backbone Sakura," she sneered at her.
Sakura sighed as she stared at the ceiling. She had been hoping for too much. "I figured. I should say sorry for lashing out at you too at the washroom. You were only looking out for your teammate," she spoke, suddenly feeling tired. "Yeah right, as if I'll ever believe a word that comes out of your mouth after today," the female member of Team Seven rose up and left the room.
Sakura was left staring at the blank space which had been previously occupied by Ami. She turned to look at Naruto. "Did I do something wrong? I thought if I apologized, she'd forgive me. But she's acting as if she's the one I insulted," she blinked owlishly in confusion. "Well, you know Ami, it might just be that time of the month. One time, she-"
Sakura lay in her bed that night, very exhausted but very much awake. It had been less than two days since she had left Konoha and already so much had happened. She had vowed to herself to avoid the shinobi accompanying her as much as possible but it seemed fate had other plans. After her fight and later on reconciliation with Team Seven, Naruto had stuck to her side like glue. He didn't sit with Ami and Sasuke during dinner. He was always yapping whatever nonsense that came to his mind in an attempt to fill the silence that usually found itself between them. Sakura didn't find it within herself to call him out for it. The recognition and acceptance he desired from just about anyone shone in his eyes as he spoke to her. She found herself nodding to whatever he said and laughing along to his jokes which were sometimes not even funny.
'Are all shinobi like this?'
He seemed much too young but from what she gleaned, he had been living alone since being chased out of the orphanage when he was five years old. The Hokage visited him once a month with his allowance and to scold him for always doing pranks all over the village. He never bothered to check whether or not his milk wasn't expired or if he ate anything apart from ramen. Was this how all orphans in the village lived?
She wondered about Sasuke. Since he was the last Uchiha, he was well-off as compared to Naruto but did have someone check up on him? He was different from Naruto in the sense that he had had parents until he was seven years old so he knew a parent's love unlike the Uzumaki who had never known his parents, even their names. Having that ripped away from him in the blink of an eye was sure to have its damages, both physical and mental.
Yowai purred softly beside her and the pinkette pulled her closer to her, hugging the soft feline for comfort as her heart ached for the two genins.
Though she had vowed to never involve herself in a shinobi's life, she couldn't just abandon the two of them. Not to mention, her very first friend was a shinobi, Hatake-senpai. She couldn't just brush it off as nothing. Besides, her target market as an businessperson were shinobi so it wouldn't hurt to befriend a few of them, right?
The first thing she had to do when she returned home was to visit the library and reread their constitution. Something had to be done for kids like Naruto and Sasuke. If nobody was going to do it, then she was going to be the bigger person and make sure that they be catered for too.