Kaput

Chapter One

-Despondency-

Sakura sat beneath her favorite cherry blossom tree in the park and stared out at the pond, watching the baby ducks play with each other and the children feeding them from the bridge, giggling at the ducklings' antics. Whereas normally this would make her smile, at the moment all it did was piss her off. Why the hell did everyone else get to be happy when she herself was miserable?

She picked up one of the fallen blossoms and began to rip the petals off, tossing them aside before starting on a new one. She felt someone else's presence come next to her, but continued to rip off petals and ignore them. If they wanted to talk to her then they could initiate the conversation. She wasn't in the mood.

"U-um, Sakura-chan, would you mind if I sat next to you?" Hinata's timid voice asked.

"Go right ahead Hinata. You are one of the few people who actually cares about my feelings and what I think." The pink haired woman said, sounding bitter.

Hinata just sat down and crossed her legs, looking out at the water as the sun began to set on the horizon. "I know you are upset Sakura-chan, but try to cheer up. Things will get better."

Sakura whirled on her friend, anger evident in her emerald gaze. "Will they Hinata? Cause' I highly doubt it."

"You just have to have faith."

"Would you have faith if Naruto broke up with you for some stupid reason that doesn't even make sense?" she asked. At the saddened look that came across the Hyuuga's face, Sakura nodded. "Exactly. I haven't even spoken to Gaara since then, not that I want to." She lied, looking back over the pond.

Sakura drew her legs to her and wrapped her arms around them, resting her chin on her knees. "I don't think he wants anything to do with me anymore, and that's why he broke it off." She said softly. "He got tired of me, and that was the nicest thing he could come up with to say instead of the truth."

Hinata placed her hand on the other woman's shoulder. "That's not true Sakura-chan, nobody could ever get tired of you, you're one of the best people I know."

"Sasuke got tired of me."

"Sasuke left the village, he got tired of everybody." The ebony haired woman reasoned. "But he came back, and is now better friends with everyone than he was before he left, even you."

"True." She sighed, looking at Hinata. "I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just…not ready to be happy yet. I might never be." She smiled apologetically.

"Don't worry about it." Hinata returned her smile. "Everyone moves on at their own pace. It has only been a month after all. I don't blame you." She stood then, brushing the flower petals off of her clothes. "Come on, we'll be late for the dinner." She offered her hand down to Sakura, who took it and stood.

"Yeah, we should be going." She said, and both of the girls headed towards the restaurant that they were to meet everyone at. Every month everyone from their academy days met someplace to share a meal together, and they made sure never to schedule anything then, so that they could all catch up. It was a tradition that Naruto had started shortly after Sasuke's return to the village, since he wanted everyone to be such good friends that nobody left for any reason.

They walked through the streets of Konoha, until they came upon a casual restaurant and went inside, walking past the host and to their regular table. They met here every time, since it was the only place other than Ichiraku that served quality ramen, according to Naruto. When they reached the private party room, Sakura stopped dead in her tracks and felt her heart stop at what she saw.

There, sitting at the head of the table, was Gaara, and he looked happy. Well, happy for him anyways. It appeared that he was chuckling at something that Sasuke had said, since the last Uchiha had a smirk on his face. The blood ran cold in her veins as she and Gaara made eye contact, and she wondered if he would say anything or not. Her question was soon answered.

"Hey Sakura."

The air in her lungs quickly left her as she was left flabbergasted at the casual way in which he greeted her. "Hey." She said softly, moving to take her seat at the opposite end from the redhead. In that moment she wished she had gotten here earlier, so that she wouldn't have to look at Gaara any time she wanted to look up or forward.

Naruto leaned out and smiled at his friend as Hinata sat next to him. "Isn't it great Sakura-chan? Gaara had to come visit Tsunade-baa-chan for some reason or other, and he gets to stay in town for a few days!" the blonde declared.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." She said, picking up her menu and hiding her face behind it, pretending that she didn't know what she was going to get, even though she got the same thing every time. She just didn't want anyone to see her face as she tried to collect herself.

Why? Why did he have to come here now, before she'd had time enough to try to move on? That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was that he looked completely fine, like her presence didn't affect him at all. It was as if they had never even been a couple, as if he had never said that he wanted her to be his.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before lowering her menu and setting it back down on the table. She placed her hands in her lap and stared at the tablecloth in front of her, not even making any attempt to talk to anyone. She didn't want to talk. She just wanted to go home, curl up into a ball, and cry.

Gaara's slightly light demeanor vanished and he moved his attention from the Uchiha to the pink haired woman at the other end of the table. He frowned slightly and said something that made Sakura's eyes widen in pure horror. "Are you alright Sakura?"

She mentally cursed and visibly cringed. Damn him. He would call her out in front of everyone and make her the center of attention, since now all eyes were on her. "Of course I'm okay." She waved it off and smiled, although it was strained. And fake. "I just don't feel all that well."

"Oh well then would you like me to take you home? You know you only get cranky when you don't feel well and you stay awake. You should probably just get some rest." He said without thinking and then froze, lowering is hand to his lap.

Hurt stabbed through her. It seemed he didn't even want her to eat with them, and was trying to get her to leave. Well, she wouldn't give him the pleasure. If she had to be uncomfortable then so did he. "No, I am well enough that I can stay and eat with my friends." She said softly before looking away and taking a sip from her glass of water.

His eye visibly twitched and everyone shifted their nervous and uncomfortable gaze from the pink haired woman to the redhead. "I was only suggesting since you get really bitchy when you're ill." He said sharply, taking the napkin from the table and flapping it out loudly and harshly before placing it in his lap.

She loudly placed her glass back on the table. "Only to those who don't know how to feel, nor have emotions." She said lowly.

"If they didn't have feelings or emotions why would it matter to them since they wouldn't care." He glared back at her.

"If they didn't care, then they should just shut their trap and mind their own business."

"So!" Kiba laughed awkwardly. "How about the weather today huh? Whoo! Some crazy stuff!"

Sakura glared at Gaara before looking to the brunette. "Didn't really notice." She said, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms.

He laughed again, getting odd looks from the others. "Yeah, heh, you know that sun. Right Ino?" he nudged his companion, who gave him a confused look, and at his expression she nodded quickly.

"Oh yeah. Totally weird."

Naruto frowned, not understanding. "What are you guys talking about? The sun is always there in the daytime. It looks the same as it always does."

"Stupid." Sasuke muttered, shaking his head.

The blonde glared at the Uchiha. "I'm not stupid, they are!" he pointed to Kiba and Ino. "They're the ones talking about the sun as if they'd never seen it before!"

"Naruto I hear they have a new flavor of ramen." Neji interjected quickly.

He perked up at this and began to frantically look through the menu. "Really? What kind? Have you tried it? Did it already come out? Ho-" he froze then as his eyes widened. "Pizza flavor?" he declared, leaning closer to the menu to make sure he was reading it correctly. "Oh my God, I think I just died and went to Heaven."

Gaara simply rolled his eyes and stole another glance at his last and only ex-girlfriend. Sakura just happened to be glancing at him in that moment, and when their eyes met, she quickly looked away, her emerald depths filled with sadness. He sighed and stood, excusing himself from the table, saying something about having forgotten to take care of something with the Hokage.

Despite everyone's protests, the redhead left anyways. Sakura didn't say anything to try and get him to stay, nor did she look at him again. Once he was gone and the dinner got underway, the conversation and mood seemed to pick up, though Sakura remained quiet. When they finished eating, she paid and stood, telling everyone that she was just going to go home instead of join them for drinks.

Hugging herself, she watched the ground as she made her way home, walking the dark, empty streets of the city. After entering her apartment she kicked off her boots and went straight to her room, curling up on her bed and letting loose her unshed tears. Before now it had gotten to the point where she didn't cry at night anymore, but because she had seen Gaara again, all of her pain came back full force. She hugged her pillow to her body, curling around it in an attempt to rid herself of the pain. Hopefully she wouldn't see him again while he was here, and then she could go back to wallowing in her sorrow.