OMG…GUESS WHO'S BACK?!!!
I know you guys hate me, and I seriously hate myself as well…this seems to be the only thing I talk about these days. But you guys can hate me. I hate myself too. Isn't this exactly the same as the last chapter? O.o
I'm trying to finish up this story because…I wanna get started on the new story! You guys can check out my account and see the poll stated over there and pick your favorite one! ...Please?
Just so you know, DUH, there will be sequel to I'll Teach You A Lesson. Because, hey, I don't want to give up on badass Sakura kicking pretty boys ass. It's just that I want to know which one I'll work on IMMEDIATELY. And see which one of the future ideas are popular.
I haven't even read all the stories and was just missing from this Fanfiction site because… I actually don't know. Lots of things were on my mind and the only reason why I turned on computer at times were because I needed to do some research for my school and not for hobby or free time. I kind of…grow distant towards computer… did I actually say that?
I'll teach you a lesson
"Do you regret it?"
"..."
"No."
Sakura's POV
I ran and ran.
Everything near me was going into a blur.
I thought I heard Tobi calling for me, but seriously, I didn't care.
I needed to get away.
I ran outside the gate, jumping over the gate when needed and just ran until I was panting. Even then, I didn't stop running. I wish running would make you forget or just do something to ease the pain. Then I wouldn't stop running until I died.
When I finally couldn't run anymore, I collapsed on the grass, panting heavily. The sky was blue, so happy and cheerful; the weather was great with no cloud to be seen. It was like the weather was laughing at me. At my misery, my pain, my burden.
Murderer.
Am I ever going to get away from that past?
The past which I don't even know what happened?
"Maybe I really did kill her," I muttered absentmindedly.
Who knows? Maybe they were right. Maybe I was a killer. Maybe I was just crazy and killed her because I actually was a cold-hearted murderer like they claimed. Maybe I was just dreaming all this: the confrontation with him, jail life, Yuki, Kisame, The Student Council…maybe my life was just a nightmare and I would just wake up, shrug it off as a bad dream and continue to live my life, whoever I was.
Then my life would be so much easier.
"Who did you kill?" An unknown voice asked to my right.
I quickly turned around, unable to believe that I didn't sense anyone near me. Yuki wouldn't hear the end of it when she found out. I turned my attention to the man who spoke to me. The owner of the mysterious voice had an orange hair that seemed to spike everywhere with endless amount of piercings that covered his entire face which I was pretty sure I could spend forever counting them. But the most startling thing about him was his eyes.
So full yet so empty of emotion.
How do you describe this…space?
"…Pardon me?" I asked, not fully realizing his question while I was examining him.
He sighed, "I asked: Who did you kill?"
"Oh." I lay down again, feeling the soft grass poking through my uniform. It was slightly wet but I liked the feel of it nevertheless.
"This…girl."
"Hmm."
He was silent after, saying nothing. I wasn't usually the one to break silence, not in a million years, so I just closed my eyes and we laid there in comfortable silence. The sunshine caressed my face as if consoling me, the beam making my face warm in a very nice way. I could feel kindergarten children playing outside from the distance, and wished my life was as carefree as them. However, it wasn't long before he broke the silence again.
"Do you regret it?"
Do I?
If I hadn't supposedly killed her, I probably wouldn't have got a chance to meet Yuki and probably didn't know how cruel one's life can be. If I didn't go to jail, I probably was just weak little girl, caring about her makeup and head full of boys and dresses. Or maybe I was an emo kid, dressing all black and hating the life. Maybe a rebellious teenager that drank alcohol and drugs, whoring myself out to anyone that offered money, thinking it was cool or amazing to do so and maybe thinking that it was the only way to rebel against my oh-so-annoying parents, not fully realizing the things I took for granted.
Do I regret going to the jail?
Missing out on a chance to live like a normal teenager with normal problems?
"No." I smiled and closed my eyes again, letting the wind caress my hair.
The stranger looked at me with that eyes filled with strange emptiness.
"Excuse me?"
I smiled, turning to him fully so that I was looking at him in the eyes. I didn't break the contact as I said the sentence that was so truthful and was directly from the bottom of my heart.
"I'm happy with it."
The stranger smiled and, to my surprise, it did reach his eyes and filled the once dead eyes with strange emotion that I couldn't quite place.
"I'm glad to hear it."
"That's because Sakura didn't kill her."
Tsunade's POV
I stared at the paper in front of me. My eyes could read the letters, could make the sense out of them, but my brain refused to believe it. It just seemed so impossible that Sakura could commit a murder.
"Are you sure that—"
"I am absolutely certain, Tsunade-sama." Itachi answered, his composure not once broken, ever the cool one.
Kisame, who stood to Itachi's right, only looked at the wall beside him with blank stare. He seemed to be bored with every second of being in here, and I wasn't doubting that if he wasn't required to be here, he would've looked for Sakura who was the cause of all the chaos that was in my mind.
Sakura Haruno: The murderer at the tender age of 10.
Could this be true?
"The thing that was the most interesting about Sakura's murder," I noticed that Kisame flinched when Itachi said the word murder. I narrowed my eyes. "…Is that the victim of Sakura's murder was, in fact, Inoichi's deceased daughter. But Inoichi's reaction when he saw Sakura was seemingly ignorance of her identity, one that would surely raise a question to any sane being."
It indeed didn't explain why Sakura reacted so violently when she saw Inoichi. Also, if my daughter was killed and supposed murderer was standing in front of me, I don't think I would've ignored the killer. Probably rip them into shards and kill them, bring them back to life just to kill them again, but I don't think I would've had been able to ignore them, pretending I don't know the murderer, even if it meant hurting my reputation to public.
"That's because Sakura didn't kill her."
I turned to look at Kisame, who was still looking at the wall beside him as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Itachi turned to Kisame, narrowing his eyes.
"What do you know about it?" Itachi asked, now turning completely to face Kisame.
Kisame sighed and turned to face Itachi and me. He narrowed his eyes and sneered.
"Sakura didn't kill that stupid daughter of Inoichi. Sakura told me."
"Kisame," I commanded, making him face me completely.
"Tell me everything you know about Sakura Haruno. You seem familiar with her?"
He sighed once more.
"It started when…"
"Do you want to get out of here?"
"...Yes."
"Shall I take you?"
Sakura's POV
How long have I been sitting here?
Then again, who cares?
I feel like a coward, running away from my problems instead of facing them ahead. But, hey, what can I say? Even though I'm pretty amazing at fighting, the greatest fear for me is my past getting into my present.
I think that, after all the shit I've been through in this life, I deserve a break from it all. If that meant running away from this, just one time, and being called coward, so be it. I was just sick of it all. Funny, because I've dealt with worse.
For some reason unknown even to me, I'm still laid down on the grass and actually answering to this mysterious man. He made me feel calm, calmer than I should be, and his questions were interesting and, ironically, something I've been wondering for awhile myself. It was nice to hear someone voicing them out loud.
"What are you afraid of?"
Million dollar question. You hit the jackpot. Congratulation.
What am I afraid of?
I was afraid of water, Yuki's angry face, Kisame not giving me his fried shrimp, Neji when he got mad at my terrible cooking.
But that's not what he was asking, was it?
Why didn't I tell Tsunade that I was a murderer? Why didn't I tell Itachi, Sasori, and the other student council people why I was running away? Why didn't I confront Inoichi and tell them what he had done to me, how much misery and pain he caused me? Why did I even try to hide the fact that I was in jail for 5 years?
Why didn't I do any of that even when I want it?
I'm afraid.
What am I afraid of?
"Their…rejection…maybe?"
Maybe, indeed.
Even now, after all the thinking, I still can't figure out any other decent answer than that. I was afraid of their rejection, their reaction. I was afraid that they would turn their back on me and that I will be alone again. I was afraid that even Kisame will turn his back on me because I was being a coward, not facing my problems. I was afraid that they would deem it right to put me into jail again because I attacked oh-so-great-Inoichi and I didn't tell them that I was in jail.
I am afraid.
The stranger looked at me, probably thinking that I'm weird, and I don't blame him. Here is supposedly a girl who murdered at the age of 10. She was bold and cruel enough to commit a murder, but she was afraid of people's rejection. How utterly stupid and unbelievably ridiculous.
But they should realize that, sometimes, rejection and the emotional wounds are the one that hurts the most. It digs in to you, leaving you with a permanent wound, throbbing just when you thought you forgot or overcame it, never fully being healed.
Yes, I was a true coward.
"Do you want to get out of here?"
Do I want to get out of here?
If I get out of her, if I run away, that would make me a coward. It won't even completely get rid of the problem, just temporarily delaying it. Even running to another country, I will someday come back here because Japan is just my home country, and will face it again. It won't cure it; just delaying it.
Besides, what about Kisame? And Tobi? And all the people I made friends with? They are all so great and fun people. Sasori, ever the understanding one. Sasuke, Naruto, Gaara, they reminded me what I used to feel like whenever I saw sisters playing with their brothers and wishing I had a brother just like them. So much like what I dreamed of when I imagined my own brothers. Even Itachi who's always so grumpy and sometimes super annoying with his holier-than-thou attitude. Hell, even Sai who's emotionally retarded. They are all so great, so wonderful, and people I didn't want to lose at all.
Even knowing that, do I want to get out of here?
"Yes."
Yes, I do.
Oh so badly.
I wished someone would take me away and say that they will give me a chance to fix everything, to make me strong, to make me temporarily forget so that I will be stronger when I face this, because goddamn it, I am not strong enough yet. Even though it may not fix everything, even though it won't make it disappear, I just wanted to run away.
I wanted to get out of here.
"Shall I take you?"
I looked at him, surprised. He stared back, hint of smile on his pierced lips, his eyes not so empty anymore. He raised one hand and caressed my hair, which was frizzy because it was violated by the wind. He smoothed it out and looked into my eyes again with that mysterious emotion in his once empty eyes.
"Shall I take you away, Haruno Sakura?"
And that's a wrap people!
I don't know how I feel about this chapter. It's...okay, I guess. It was way too emo-ish and wondering and PHILOSPHICAL (if that's even a word) in my opinion, but I want to know if you liked it or not!
So please, please please please please please review~~
...Please?