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The past is like a handful of dust

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Konoha, Fire Country

The woods were seemingly silent, so calm that they seemed empty and yet they were full of life, the wind that made the leaves brush against each other, producing the familiar sound that was so like a whistle, the birds singing their songs to the beautiful spring day, the little animals rustling between the green grass on the floor but all that were the typical sounds of the woods. What was not so typical was the sound of footsteps approaching.

Sakura looked up and saw him coming towards her. He didn't seem to be in a rush for he walked slowly but emanated confidence.

His sandaled feet stepped on a bunch of dandelion flowers, sending little white seeds flying around them. It was almost like a dream, she noted indifferently. A dream she used to have a long, long time ago.

Sasuke stopped just a few inches away from her, his dark eyes boring into hers with an intensity that made her tremble, this was a man with a goal, there was something he wanted and he was going to take it. Then he stretched his arm to her and opened his closed fist, revealing the flower her held in his hand, a cherry blossom flower.

"Take it." He said, but strangely, he had not moved his lips.

Sakura was confused, had missed him talking? But she had been looking right at him. Yet, Sakura's hand reached for his, meeting them halfway and grabbing the small, delicate flower. A jolt of pleasure ran through her the moment their fingers touched and then she was alone, Sasuke had disappeared, leaving her there, arm stretched, flower in hand, paralyzed in the placed their fingers had touched.

He's dead. She remembered it now, he died. He's dead, they were all dead.

…but it had seemed so real, she could swear on her life he had been there with her, she had felt it, his hand, it had been so real.

But it was not, he was dead and she was alone, she was all alone.

Sakura looked at her hand but the flower was still there. That flower had been Sasuke's first and last gift to her, it had been lying right next to him and he had picked it up and given it to her on his deathbed.

"Maybe in another life, things would be different." He had said and then he had died, leaving her utterly alone.

The woods were silent and empty. The girl that held the cherry blossom flower was gone, just like the rest of them.

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It filters through your fingers, disappearing, little by little

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Modern day, Leaf High private school

The sound of a loud motor made the students walking to their classes turn around and look at the school gates, coming through the cars road on the school grounds was a big black motorcycle. Whoever it was that came, parked the big thing right next to the space that was reserved for bikes and secured the motorcycle with chains and a lock.

"Who is that?" Sakura heard Ino ask when the boy took off his helmet.

"I don't know." Sakura answered. There was something about him that was eerily familiar, like she had know him before but Sakura did not remember ever meeting the boy.

"He's cute." Ino complemented, whistling as the boy passed through them, ignoring all the stares directed towards him.

Sakura couldn't take her eyes off the boy, there was something so familiar about him, something that she couldn't quite put her finger on but something sad and tragic that made her throat tighten and her heart constrict.

"Hey!" Ino called her. "Why are you crying?"

Crying? Sakura raised her hands to her face and indeed, her cheeks were wet with tears. She stared baffled at her hands, why was she crying? Sakura felt so sad, so…she started sobbing, burying her face in her hands, she cried her heart out from all the sadness that had suddenly filled her.

"Hey, there," Ino wrapped her skinny arms around Sakura. "What's happened?"

But the pink haired girl couldn't tell her best friend because she didn't knew it herself, she had just felt so overwhelmed by sadness that she couldn't help but cry. Sakura felt so sad and lonely.

Turns out the boy was a new student at the school, his name? Sasuke Uchiha.

"Hey," Ino poked Sakura's back with her pencil. "Are you feeling better."

"Yeah, thanks."

"What was that all about, anyway?"

What could she tell Ino? That she had just broken down for no reason? Ino would never believe her so she decided to resort to another technique that always worked. "Hormones." Sakura whispered. "I'm on my period."

"Oh." Ino said and turned back to the task the teacher had asked them to do.

Sakura did not like lying to her friend like that but she really had no idea what else she could say.

"Hey, can I borrow an eraser?" The boy, Sasuke, asked her. He had been seated in the desk on her right.

"Sure," She said. "Here"

He smiled at her and she flushed. "Thanks…um…"

"Sakura." She offered as a means of introducing herself.

"Thanks, Sakura."

Sakura couldn't breath, the air wasn't getting to her lungs and she was unable to take a breath. Sakura realized she had, unconsciously, been holding her breath and released it, wondering why she was reacting that way towards the boy. Suddenly another wave of sadness hit her and It was all she could do not to break down in the middle of the class. What was wrong with her? Why was she feeling this way? Sakura felt miserable and desperate and she had no idea why. Why was she feeling so utterly alone?

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In another life I would make you stay

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Konoha, Fire Country

She wasn't strong enough. She hadn't been strong enough then and she wasn't strong enough now, she couldn't save them, she couldn't save anyone. She was useless.

They had died beside her, on her arms just like these two were dying now and she couldn't save them.

They're dead.

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Modern day, Leaf High private school

Sakura officially hated her French teacher. The woman was just so unbearable! Why was she such a fucking bitch? She probably needed to get laid but then, with her personality, no one would ever want her.

Those were the thoughts running through Sakura's head as the teacher announced the grades on their projects. Her's and Ino's project was totally worth a much better one, it was a fucking amazing project! But no, of course not, the teacher only gave good grades to those who sucked up to her, fucking bitch!

"Now, class, for your next project you will be analyzing chapters of 'Le Petit Prince' in pairs to present them to the class next week."

As usual, she did not let them decide who they would be partnering with or which chapter they wanted to make the project about, she chose the partners herself and the chapters assigned to each one were selected randomly. Sasuke and Sakura got the third chapter. They spent the rest of the class deciding what king of presentation they wanted to make and organizing the project.

"Come to my house after school so we can continue." Sasuke told her when the class ended. "Meet me by my motorcycle."

Sakura nodded in agreement, even though he hadn't really asked her anything, and they were off to their next class.

At the end of the school day, Sakura said goodbye to Ino and went to the place where Sasuke's vehicle was parked.

"Ever been in one?" Sasuke asked her, passing a helmet to her hands.

"No." She told him and he smirked, making those metaphorical butterflies start fluttering in her belly. There was something so awfully familiar about that smirk, she was sure she had seen it before…about all of him really.

Sasuke grabbed the helmet from her hands and quickly strapped it on her head then jumped into the motorcycle, motioning for her to jump behind him.

"What about you?" She asked, "You need a helmet too."

"Don't worry, Sakura, I'll be alright." Sasuke patted the back seat, once again telling her to jump behind him.

He's quite well shaped, she though as she wrapped her arms around the black haired boy. Sakura could feel the muscles of his belly beneath her hands. He probably worked out to have muscles like that, they were quite well defined, even over the shirt he was wearing.

A few minutes later he stopped in front of a white, medium sized, two storey house. Sakura realized that he didn't live that far away from her, the girl's hose being just a few blocks down the road.

"Nice house." Sakura complimented it and it really was, the front yard had a beautiful flower garden along with some statues of various figures. There were also two stone benches in front of the mini pond.

"Thanks, my mom decorated it, she loves that kind of stuff." He said, leading Sakura upstairs where she assumed was his bedroom. It was a very simple bedroom, had nothing but the simple necessities all bedroom required like a bed and a wardrobe. He also had a desk with a computer and some shelves with books but besides that, Sakura saw nothing that made the bedroom have a homey feel instead of being one of those pre-made ones you usually see on IKEA. There were no pictures, no trophies on the walls and no personal possessions in sight besides the school books. Either he was very organized and had everything in it's right place or he had no personal possessions in the bedroom. Sakura was more inclined to believe it was the former for what teenage boy would be that organized?

A few hours after they started working, Sasuke's mother arrived and brought them some home made iced tea that tasted wonderfully and refreshed them from the summer heat. When they were finished, Sasuke offered to take her home.

"No need, thanks. My house is just a few blocks down." Sakura told him, gathering her things in her back pack.

"I'll walk you home, then." He said and when she opened her mouth, he put his hand over it. "Don't argue with me."

Sakura found strange how he knew she was going to argue with him and the act of Sasuke putting his hand over her mouth to shut her up had been so familiar, almost like a déjà vu but not quite…what was wrong with her? Sakura didn't understand why she kept having these weird feelings.

As they made their way downstairs, the smell of meat cooking hit Sakura's nose and made her mouth water.

"Mom, I'm walking Sakura home." Sasuke shouted, grabbing the house keys from the entrance table.

Mrs. Uchiha appeared in the foyer, cleaning her hands on her apron. "Won't you stay for dinner, dear?"

"No, thank you. My parents are expecting me."

"Oh, what a shame." The woman complained. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Sakura."

"It was nice meeting you too Mrs. Uchiha."

Sasuke grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the door. "I'll be right back, mom."

The sun was almost out of the horizon when they stepped outside. All the street lights were on and you could barely get any sunlight.

"Your mom is a nice woman." Sakura said. Sasuke smiled, "Yeah, she is."

The walk to her house took them a little less than ten minutes. "Thanks for walking me home."

They stopped in front of the gate that opened into the front yard.

"You're welcome." He smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura."

"Yeah," she whispered, looking at his retreating back, "see you tomorrow."

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I wish, for one day, I could go back

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Konoha, Fire Country

Sakura was so exited; she was on Sasuke-kun's team! How lucky was she? Ino would be green with envy. But, of course, there had to be Naruto too, hadn't it? To ruin all her moments with her Sasuke-kun. And now, the dumbass thought he could trick their new teacher, pft as if. The class idiot beating a ninja of that class, only Naruto would think it possible.

"He'll never fall for it." Sakura said, as she saw Naruto put the trap on the door.

"He will, you'll see Sakura-chan."

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Modern day, Leaf High private school

"And then he was hit by the board eraser right between the eyes. Caught by his own trap." Sakura told him the story, laughing. Naruto was just the clumsiest jokester ever. Sasuke was laughing too.

The digital clock on Sasuke's nightstand was telling her it was time to go.

"Well," she said, "I should get going."

Sasuke got up from the chair and grabbed her wrist. "Why don't you stay for dinner?"

"Really?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Yeah, mom has been bugging me about it for days."

Sakura saw his cheeks getting redder and redder and she laughed, Sasuke was cute when he was embarrassed.

"I'll stay then." She said.

"Good."

After dinner, as usual every time Sakura came to his house, Sasuke walked her home. They had developed that routine from the weeks they had been doing the French project together. After they had finished the project, they continued to hang out together after school. Usually she went to his house but he had been in hers a few times too.

Sakura didn't really understood what connected them, they had nothing in common as far as she could tell, he was passionate about motorcycles and football while she loved fashion and tennis. He liked being alone while she loved being surrounded by people. They didn't even agree on the TV shows they watched! Sasuke was a fan of The Walking Dead and the loathed it with a passion, she preferred Gossip Girl or The Vampire Diaries. The only thing they really had in common was their love for books and, surprisingly, they had very similar tastes in books.

They stopped in front of the house, as they usually did to say goodbye.

"Goodnight, Sasuke." She said, kissing his cheek and turning to unlock the gate.

"Wait." Sasuke halted her by grabbing her wrist.

Sakura turned around again and her body bumped lightly into his, when had he moved so close to her? Her breath hitched as her eyes locked into his lips, noticing how close they were to her own…oh how she wanted to kiss those lips, Sakura could feel his warm breath hitting her face and making her heart beat faster, so much that she could hear it pounding in her ears and she feared he could hear it too.

Her eyelids slowly closed as he came closer to her too and, without really thinking about it, she stood on tiptoe, propelling her body a tiny bit forward. Small tingles ran through her body the moment his warm lips touched hers. The touch was light, innocent almost, just a little brush of lips that was over far too soon in Sakura's opinion.

"Goodnight." Sasuke whispered when they separated, his dark eyes boring into hers with an intensity she had never see before. He wanted her, she realized, really wanted her.

The boy turned around to walk back to his house and she just stood there for a while, looking dazzled. Sakura's heart was still pounding wildly and her lips still tingled the way they had when he had kissed her.

Sakura licked her lips slowly, tasting him on her, wondering if he was feeling the same as she was…

…Sasuke had kissed her!

A big, bright smile made it's way into her face, happiness spreading through her almost instantly. Sakura hurried in unlocking the gate and her house door and once she was inside, she rested against the wooden door and took out her phone. Clicking on the twitter app, she quickly typed a tweet.

()SakuraHaruno: Just had the most amazing kiss. #Swoon

As she made her way towards her bedroom, the familiar ping that let her know she had a new message reached her ears.

()ThePrincessIno: ()SakuraHaruno Who did you kiss forehead? Tell me!

In a few minutes, all her friends had sent her messages inquiring about the mysterious kiss.

()NarutoKingofRamen: ()SakuraHaruno what? Who was the bastard? #gonna kill you

()TheTenten: ()SakuraHaruno Sakura! #you go girl!

()SasukeUchiha: ()SakuraHaruno amazing kiss, hun?

Sakura blushed when she saw Sasuke's tweet, she wasn't expecting him to say anything about it, he was on twitter so rarely that she didn't even think that he might see her tweet when she published it.

()SakuraHaruno: ()SasukeUchiha well, yes.

()SasukeUchiha: ()SakuraHaruno good.

5 dates later and four months after they first met, Sasuke asked her to be his girlfriend.

()SakuraHaruno: officially dating ()SasukeUchiha

()ThePrincessIno: ()SakuraHaruno forehead! #you lucky bitch!

()NarutoKingofRamen: ()SasukeUchiha teme! Sakura-chan's mine!

()SasukeUchiha: ()NarutoKingofRamen keep dreaming, dobe.

()HinataHyuuga: ()SakuraHaruno congratulations, Sakura-chan.

()SakuraHaruno: ()ThePrincessIno jealous much?

()SakuraHaruno: ()HinataHyuuga thanks ;)

And so, the happiest period of her life had begun and Sakura was in cloud nine. True, she still didn't understand how they got along so well since they were total polar opposites, they spent half the time annoyed and infuriated with each other, mostly because they didn't understand each others decisions. Sakura loathed almost everything he loved and vice-versa but somehow, they made it work. She liked to think it was their love for each other, like they said, love conquers all and she believed in it with her whole heart. And she loved him, she knew people would say she was too young, it was too early in the relationship but she knew she loved him, Sakura had probably loved him right from the moment he had climbed out of his motorcycle that first day. Sakura knew she loved him and she knew he was the one she was going to marry.

The weird feelings were still with her, she still felt as if she would burst out crying every time he looked at her with those dark eyes whenever he was angry and she always felt so overwhelmed by all the feelings that assaulted her when they were near each other, there was love, a deep, everlasting love but also a sadness, such a deep sadness and hurt and she could not understand where it came from because she was so very happy with him that it was almost like a fairytale.

"What are you thinking about?" Sasuke whispered, tugging lightly on her ear with his teeth.

Sakura turned around on his bed, making sure she didn't accidentally hurt him since he was hugging her from behind and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Nothing." She pecked his lips in a quick kiss and nestled her head in the space between his neck and shoulder. Sakura felt him place a soft kiss on her shoulder and she shivered in delight.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He whispered, his breath hitting her neck and making her shiver. "But I must admit I'm curious, something that can hold your attention for so long must be something you really love."

The words he said hit her hard, as if someone had sent a rock against her heart and once again she did not understood why, she loved him and she was thinking about him, he was right but why did his words made her want to weep?

Sakura tightened her arms around him, feeling his muscular body squeezing against her smaller one.

"I love you." She confessed.

"I know."

The phone vibrating in her pocket woke her up from her nap. Sakura quickly disentangled herself from Sasuke's sleeping form and looked at her phone, she had a text from Ino.

From: Ino Pig

Message: Your mom told me you went to Sasuke's house. Escaping for a little afternoon sex, are we?

Sakura blushed, that girl…what was she doing at her house anyway? Sakura took another look at her phone to see what time it was and she realized she had slept more than what she had thought, Ino was probably waiting for her.

Leaning over Sasuke, she placed open mouthed kisses along his neck to wake him up.

"I have to go." She whispered when she saw him open his eyes.

"So soon?" He complained, his voice rough from sleep.

"Ino's waiting for me." Sakura placed a soft kiss on his cheek and got out of the bed, grabbing her things to take her leave.

"I'll walk you home." Sasuke said, getting up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Thanks, sweetie."

Halfway down their walk, Sakura's phone ringed again.

ThePrincessIno: SakuraHaruno is at SasukeUchiha's house #they're having sex

"I'm going to kill her." Sakura gritted her teeth.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked. Sakura held her phone up to him, so he could see the tweet and he groaned.

"Still don't understand why you are friends with her."

"Neither do I." She said, looking at the tweet. "Neither do I."

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Konoha, Fire Country

Death. Death was everywhere.

The pink haired girl wandered through the white corridors of the hospital, looking at all the dead bodies that were piling up on the morgue. Death. Death was the natural result of war, wasn't it? People died in wars, it was just as it was but why did it have to be the people she knew? Why did it have to be her friends? Her love? Why?

The bodies on the hospital made her recall the deaths on the battlefield, the loud, happy blonde haired boy and the lonely avenger, her dark eyed, black haired knight. Her first love.

They were dead, they had died in her arms and she had been completely useless to them, she was a medic and yet she had let them die. She was worthless.

"You're here again." Someone was speaking to her but she could not identify who. "Go home, Sakura, this is not good for you."

Home? Where was home? Her friends were gone, her love was gone. There was no other home but this one.

"You can't keep doing this." Tsunade appeared in front of her, making her let go of the bed. "You have to leave the bodies where they belong. Stop taking them out and go home."

"This is my home." The girl said, looking at the dead body of the black haired avenger.

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Modern day, Konoha City

Sakura woke up with a gasp and tears running out her eyes, her hand clutching her throat. It had been so real, too real.

Sakura grabbed her pillow and clung to it, crying. She knew that Sasuke would never, ever do her any sort of harm but the dream had disturbed her, it had been so real, him, her and his intent to kill, he wanted to kill her.

For a long while she just lay there, crying then she picked up her phone and called Sasuke.

"Hi, honey." She tried to make her voice as happy as she could.

"Hi." His voice was deep and rough so she must have waked him up with her call. "Do you need something?"

"Did I wake you?"

Sakura heard him yawn over the phone. "Yeah, why are you calling so early?"

"I just…wanted to hear your voice." She said, focusing all her energy on not start crying. "I missed you."

Her voice kinda gave her away a little bit, she just hoped he wouldn't notice.

"What's wrong?" But apparently he did notice.

"Nothing's wrong, why do you say that?"

Sakura heard her boyfriend sigh. "I know you. Tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing, I just…"She wasn't sure what to tell him. "I just had a nightmare."

"Want me to come over?" He asked.

"Yeah."

Sakura heard the doorbell right downstairs and a little after, her mother was calling for her.

"Sakura, Sasuke's here for you." Mother shouted at her.

Sakura finished putting on her shirt and stepped into the hallway. "Come on up, Sasuke."

Her handsome boyfriend was carrying a huge bouquet of beautiful pink tulips, her favorite flowers.

"Oh, thank you." She said when he passed her the flowers. "They're so beautiful."

"Just like you." Sasuke gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Happy anniversary, baby."

It warmed her heart to know that he remembered and what's more, that he cared about their six month anniversary enough to give her a present. "You're so sweet!"

Sakura launched herself to his neck, kissing him all over and saying 'I love you' over and over again. "I have something for you too but it's for later."

Sasuke pouted with her words. "Don't pout, you'll like it."

"Does it involve being alone at the house?" He asked, a teasing smirk making his way to his lips.

"It might." Sakura teased him back. "You'll have to wait and see."

They went to her bedroom and Sasuke demanded to know what had made her so upset this morning.

"I told you, I had a nightmare." She whined. "It just frightened me."

"You seemed upset on the phone."

Sakura moved closer to him and laid her head on his lap. "I was, it was an awful nightmare."

"Well, that's just what it was, a nightmare." Sasuke's hands glided through her hair, softly stroking her scalp. "It can't hurt you."

"Yeah, I know that."

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Konoha, Fire Country

Sakura couldn't breath, the hand at her throat choking the life out of her and for a moment all she saw was red, red and black. Black, black eyes and red, red, red…blood. For a moment all she was Sasuke holding her against the wall, kunai in hand, ready to kill her.

Channeling chakra on her hands, she managed to push the man way from her and fell onto her knees. She should heal herself but she was so, so tired…

Then there was blood, blood everywhere. Blood on the grass, on the trees…blood on her. His blood was on her. The man dropped dead in front of her and when she looked up, there he was, as beautiful as ever, her white knight.

"Sasuke-kun." She whispered. But it couldn't be. He couldn't be there. He was dead.

And yet there he was, looking at her with his beautiful dark eyes that made her shiver every time she looked at them but there was something strange about his eyes, they were not his eyes, Sasuke's eyes had been the colour of dark ebony, Sasuke's eyes had shined with all the things we was feeling inside, Sasuke's eyes had been they way she had know what he was thinking and these eyes showed nothing, they did not shine like Sasuke's did.

"Sai."

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Modern day, Konoha City

A screamed filled the room as Sakura woke from her nightmare. She was breathing hard, tears were still falling from her eyes and her heart was beating so fast it sounded like a drum in her ears.

The door was suddenly flung open and her mother strode into the room, looking worriedly at her daughter. "Sakura, what happened?"

Sakura was confused, her mother had been the on to come into her room as if…Only then did Sakura felt them warm liquid that was spreading down her throat and she realized that she had clawed her neck in her sleep for her nails were stuck in the skin of her throat. I must have screamed, I must have woken her with my screams. Sakura remembered dreaming about Sasuke and deaths, so many deaths…

Sakura sobbed as she tore her nails from her throat. Her mother was beside her in an instant, soothing her and looking at her wound.

Looking at her mother made her remember her dream once again. Sasuke!

"I need to see Sasuke." She pushed her mother aside and climbed out of bed, trying to get dressed.

"Let's get you cleaned up first, sweetheart." Her mother tried to pull her into the bathroom but Sakura resisted.

"I need to see Sasuke." Sakura protested. "Sasuke needs me."

"Why? What happened to Sasuke?"

Sakura stopped suddenly. What happened to Sasuke? Nothing had happened to him, had it? But she felt it, he needed her, she knew he did. "Nothing…I…Sasuke needs me."

The young girl managed to slip past her mother into the bathroom and she quickly put on the shirt and pants she had grabbed. When she moved to brush her hair was when she noticed the state her throat was in. The three cuts weren't very deep but they had drawn out a lot of blood that spread down her neck.

Sakura wet a towel and cleaned herself but didn't bother in putting a band aid in the cuts. Finishing what she had to to look at least presentable, she rushed to put on shoes and was out the door before her mother could reach the living room.

Running as fast as she ever had in her life, Sakura reached Sasuke's house and desperately ringed the doorbell and calling Sasuke's name but no matter how she ringed, no one would come to the door so she tried to knock on the door but the moment her knuckles touched the wooden door, it opened and Sakura fell forward, into the house.

"Sasuke?" The house was eerily dark and quiet, the blinds hadn't been drawn up yet. As she stepped into the living room, Sakura saw a head behind the sofa that she recognized.

"Sasuke!" Sakura bolted toward him but stopped when she saw the bodies on the floor. "Oh my god!"

The green eyed girl fell onto her knees, horrified. Sasuke's parents, Mikoto and Fugaku lay there, dead with their throats slashed. Sakura started coughing compulsively, feeling like she was going to throw up. She wanted to, how she wanted to. Sakura just wanted to throw up and scream and flee and pretend this had never happened but she thought of Sasuke, who was the one who needed support right now, not her so she controlled herself and crawled towards her boyfriend, hugging him.

"Sasuke, what happened?" Sakura asked him and when he didn't answer she tried again. "Have you called the police."

But the dark haired boy just would speak. Sakura felt him shaking beneath her but he wasn't crying, he wasn't doing anything. "Come, let's get out of here."

It wasn't good for him to be there, looking at the bodies and god knows how long he had been there already but the boy wouldn't budge, not matter how Sakura tried he wouldn't move so Sakura decided to try another thing. Moving quickly, she grabbed her cell phone and called 911 and the police.

Fifteen minutes after her call, the 911 arrived, followed by the police. They sedated Sasuke for he started trashing, kicking and screaming when they tried to move him and the bodies and put him in the ambulance. A young paramedic came to her, asking if she wanted to come along but the police didn't let her, they said she had to stay to answer some questions.

The young man must have seen in her face the panic she felt for he gave her a reassuring smiled and told her, while he ruffled her hair that Sasuke was just in shock and he would be fine.

After the police got her statement and she was released, she went straight to the hospital. Sasuke did not raise his head when she entered his room. Actually he did nothing but Sakura was determined to help him in any way she could and if comfort was the only thing she could do for him, then she would. Sakura sat on the bed beside him and wrapped her arms around his bigger body.

"Oh Sasuke." She kissed the top of his head. "I'm so sorry."

For a while he did nothing, simply stood there, looking at the white hospital sheets but then she felt his arms wrap around her, just like hers were around him and his head on her shoulder. Then the tears started falling and in no time, strong, proud, Sasuke Uchiha was sobbing in her arms.

Sakura stayed three hours with him, the maximum allowed on visiting hours and not once had he talked, he had cried, a lot and also gotten angry and screamed sometimes but Sasuke had not spoken a word the whole time. What worried Sakura was that she could not find Itachi anywhere, he had not come to see his brother at the hospital and he would not pick up his phone. What had happened to him? And now that he needed to be here, his brother needed him and it was his duty to support his brother. They should be supporting each other.

The next day, Sakura went to visit Sasuke and they did not let her in. The nurse told her Sasuke didn't want to see her. It hurt that he would say something like that but she figured he wanted to be alone and he had that right so she left him alone for that day but Sakura returned the next day and the nurse told her the same thing.

Sakura went there on Monday again, after school and she was surprised to hear that he had left, he hadn't even contacted her and Itachi was still missing. Where could he have gone? Surely he wouldn't go back to the house…or would he?

To be on the safe side, Sakura dropped by the house but it was still closed and surrounded by police tape so no one could get in. Where was he?

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So I don't have to say you were the one that got away

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Konoha, Fire Country

Naruto was worried about her, Sakura knew but she couldn't help herself, she just had a feeling…a weird feeling…she needed to find Sasuke.

The fist thing she noticed was his backpack. He had packed and that meant that he intended to leave.

"Go home." He said but she couldn't. How could she go home when he was about to leave her? Leave them? It was a mistake, what he was doing was a mistake and she had to make him see it, make him stay, make him understand.

"I'm so in love with you I can't even stand it so, please, If you can't stay then take me with you." Sakura begged him, couldn't he understand that she couldn't be without him? But he was leaving all the same and he didn't seem to care what she thought. Nothing she said was getting through to him. He was leaving anyway. Sakura ran after him.

"Don't leave! If you leave I'll scream and-"

Sasuke disappeared and then he was behind her. She could not see him but she felt him, his energy, his heat.

"Sakura…"He said. "Thank you."

"Sasuke-kun…" And everything went black.

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In another life, I would do things differently.

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Modern day, Konoha City

Sakura woke up from another dream. She was tired of dreams, so utterly tired of these dreams that she could not understand but that didn't matter now, what it mattered was that she knew where he was and she had to go to him. Sakura knew where he was now.

Sakura rushed to get dress and bolted downstairs to the street where she ran to the place where she knew he would be. It was ironic, a little more than a week ago she had done the exact same thing and she was doing it again now. Sasuke hadn't contacted her ever since she last saw him at the hospital, he didn't come to school and she had no idea where he had been until now.

It was raining quite heavily and you could see no one in the streets, of course, only the ones who wanted to get wet would go out on a rain like this…and them.

The gates of the cemetery showed up in her line of sight and she slowed down. Sasuke's parents graves would be right next to the big cherry blossom tree at the right side of the cemetery and that's where she went but he wasn't there. Nobody was there.

Sakura rested her back against the tree, trying to catch her breath. Maybe he had left already, she had come running but it was still quite a distance from her house to here and maybe she missed him.

And then he was there. Sakura looked up and he was there, she hadn't heard him coming because of the rain but he was there. Sasuke really was there.

And he had a backpack with him.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked him, still trying to catch her breath.

"Away." He said, never taking his eyes off her. Sasuke's eyes made her want to weep, there was none of the kindness, none of the love that had been there before. When she looked into Sasuke's eyes now, all she saw was anger and vengeance.

"Don't go." Sakura begged him. "Revenge won't make you happy. I know what happened with Itachi but-"

"Don't say his name!" Sasuke screamed and Sakura jumped. He had never, ever screamed at her before.

She stepped forward, slowly reaching for him. "Sasuke, please."

Sasuke slapped her hand away and it stung, it hurt deep in her heart for she could no longer see the love that had been there before. "Don't. Go home, Sakura."

"I won't let you leave." She wasn't going to be intimidated by him, even if he wanted her gone. Sakura knew he needed her help. "I understand, I do but-"

"You don't understand anything." Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "You have your perfect family waiting for you. You don't know shit."

"I know that revenge is not the way." She said. "But if you're so set on it, let me help you but please, don't leave."

"Help me?" Sasuke seemed surprised by her statement.

"Yes, help you." Sakura reached for him again and this time he let her caress his cheek. "I would do anything for you. I love you."

"Sakura…" He whispered, grabbing her hand and bringing it to his lips.

"I love you, Sasuke." She moved closer to him. "So much, I can't even stand it."

And then his lips were on hers, hard and fast and desperate, his hands so tight on her that she fear he might bruise her. Sakura felt him slip something soft and light into her hand and Sasuke separated their lips but Sakura did not open her eyes, she knew he was still close, she could feel his warm breath on her lips that still tingled from the kiss.

"Thank you."

Sakura opened her eyes but he was already being picked up by a car. "SASUKE!"

Sasuke left her there with the cherry blossom flower in her hand.

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The one that got away

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Not edited because i'm still without a computer and i just had today to pass everything to the PC and publish :(

I hope you like it anyway

By the way, replace the () with the since ffnet doesn't let it be in the story.

xoxo