Yay chapter 2! Are you happy? xD You should be. I am SOOO sorry that it took this long! I mean, with school and volleyball and friends, and blahhh. I just don't seem to have time for my precious story anymore haha. But now that I finally have it done and up, I feel better. Like I said, I'm sorry! And especially to FlameHaze (Meli-chan)! Sorry! So enjoy chappie two!

-Try To Love Again-

-Chapter Two-

I sighed and ripped my clothes down from their hanger. 'Might as well get on with life,' I thought darkly to myself as I pulled my shirt over my head. Pain seared through my stomach as I stretched and I almost doubled over. It hurt so bad. Sasuke was definitely going to pay the next time I see his pretty boy ass.

"Damn you to hell, Sasuke," I muttered, pulling my black shorts on and then reaching over for my medic skirt. I flinched as I moved my arm over. Jeez, they're only scratches, so why do they hurt so bad? As I clipped on my medic skirt I looked back into the mirror. Ugh. My hair needed some major fixing. I groaned and grabbed my light pink brush from the bedside table. Oh how I hated having to look perfect when you're a girl. I mean, even if you're a slutty bitch, your hair needs to look good. Of course, I'm not saying I'm a slutty bitch, I'm just referring to…other people.

I brushed through my pink hair furiously, wanting to hurry up and go. I snagged my ear and I yelped. Ow. Stupid brush. I was tempted to throw it against the wall, but then Tsunade-sama might be angry to find that the wall in one of her best rooms had a huge hole in it. Neh, I'll just take my anger out in training (if I'm okay enough to participate, that is) today. I massaged my ear for a few more seconds and then made sure my bangs were perfect. Ha. Beautiful. Well, my hair, not me.

Since I was done with that, I sat the brush down and looked around the room to see if I needed to bring anything with me.

'Yeah, a shield,' I thought, smiling. Maybe Tenten would get mad and throw thousands upon thousands of shuriken and kunai and senbon and other numerous weapons at me. That would be a sight to see. Well, unless you're the victim. Anyways, since I didn't find anything important, I guess I could leave now. I sighed and opened the door. I hoped she wouldn't be angry. That would just suck completely. I put a determined face on and walked down the brightly light hallway of the fifth floor.

-x-

Ah, the outdoors. Such a wonderful place to be on a day like this. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. Three girls are running towards me at the speed of light. Wait…WHAT!?

I screamed as I got tackled to the ground. I moaned in pain as the three people quickly got up.

"Sorry, sorry!" said Ino, gasping and helping me to me feet. I clutched my stomach in pain but smiled weakly at her.

"I-It's okay, Ino," I said, sighing. "Just please, don't do that again."

"I swear I won't! Now Sakura, tell me about how much he hurt you…Is it bad?" she asked, leaning closer to my face.

I rolled my eyes. "Well, it's not terrible, but yeah, it hurts like hell when I moved a lot."

Hinata looked at me, her lavender eyes filled with sympathy. "I-I'm sorry that he d-did that, Sakura-chan."

I shrugged. "Neh…Someone always told me he was fake." I winked at Tenten. "I was just too stupid to believe them. Forgive me, Ten-chan?"

Tenten smiled. "Of course!" She laughed and hugged me. "I couldn't stay mad at you for long. I mean, I don't blame you for acting like that. After all, you have been obsessed with that pretty boy for most of your life. You were probably on cloud nine when the devil asked you out."

I nodded sadly. "Yep…I was an idiot for actually believing that he loved me. But, that's in the past now, and I think I wanna focus on the present. So what do you say? Dinner?"

Ino squealed. "I'm in! Tenten?"

Tenten shrugged. "Hell, sure. Hina-chan?"

Hinata smiled. "I-I guess I could…"

I grinned. "Great! Besides, I'm sure that you guys have loads to talk about. I have been out for two weeks, after all."

Ino giggled and nodded happily. "So let's catch up on…um…ramen?"

Hinata, Tenten, and I looked at each other. "Sounds good."

Ino squealed and skipped off to Ichiraku's while Tenten, Hinata, and I walked behind her.

When we arrived at the ramen bar, Ino planted herself beside me on one of the stools. Hinata sat on the other side of me and Tenten sat next to Hinata. We all ordered and then everyone turned to look at me. Ayame even let her father take over the ramen so she could listen to us.

"So…Sakura," said Ino, playing with a strand of her long blond hair. "Tell us everything."

I sighed and my eyebrows creased. Should I really tell them everything that happened? Well, it's worth a shot. "You see…" I started quietly, making the four girls lean towards me so they could hear what I was saying. And then everything spilled out at once. I began moving my hands and pointing out the scars he had given me. I mad faces and I even spoke in a high, girly imitation of Sasuke's voice. When I got to the part where he kissed me I got such a dark look on my face Hinata and Ino leaned way back.

They all cursed and scowled and added their comments here and there. Ino started laughing like a manic when I did the Sasuke voice. Ayame gasped whenever I showed her a cut. I can't blame her. Ayame doesn't see much action. Tenten kept repeating the words 'that bastard' at least a thousand times. Hinata just nodded here and there and every once in a while her eyes would widen a little.

When I finished they all were very quite.

"…Wow," said Ino, staring at me in awe.

"Amazing," said Tenten, smiling at me.

Hinata just nodded her head.

Ayame exhaled heavily and patted my hand, "I would never be a ninja. Too much drama and work. I'll just stick to gossiping at a ramen stand."

We all giggled and snorted.

"Speaking of gossip," I said, looking around at my friends. "What happened while I was in my coma or whatever?"

"Wellll," said Ino, smirking at Hinata. "Someone has a big date tonight."

I looked over at Hinata, shocked. "Really? Wow! With Naruto, right?"

Hinata shook her head. "N-no. With Kiba-kun."

My jaw dropped. What the hell? Was I in a different world? Since when did Hinata like Kiba? I mean, don't get me wrong, they would be really cute together, but I always thought that Hinata liked Naruto. No, I knew she liked Naruto. It was SO obvious.

Hinata smiled at my expression. "Yes, it's true. I know you must be thinking why not Naruto, but you all have noticed how he never really noticed me. He always had his heart set on Sakura-chan, and he still does."

I blushed at this, and the four girls turned to look at me. "S-so why Kiba then, Hinata?"

"Oh because he's so nice and s-sweet to me. Last week we were training and I accidentally fell and scraped my arm badly. He w-wouldn't let me continue until he made sure the wound was bandaged and t-that I was fine. I was flattered that he wanted to m-make sure I was okay."

"Aw, that sweet!" I said, smiling brightly. Well this was great. Hinata and Kiba. They are going to be so cute! "So what else did I miss?"

"Ino and Shika!" said Ayame, Tenten, and Hinata together.

"SAY WHAT?" I said, spinning to look at Ino.

"Yeah, Sakura, is that SO hard to believe? Shika can be nice sometimes," said Ino, smirking as she folded her arms across her chest. "Besides, we all have boyfriends except you. Oh, and Ayame. But her dad would kill her if she did, so whatever."

"So your saying that Tenten has a boyfriend as well?" I said, turning back around to look at Tenten.

"I wouldn't say boyfriend," said Tenten, embarrassed.

"Puh-lease! You and Neji were making out when I found you two! That SO means that your together," said Ino, rolling her eyes.

Tenten just scowled and muttered something that we couldn't hear under her breath.

"So now, Sakura, we need to find you a boyfriend," Ino announced. "Besides, I doubt Tsunade-sama is going to let you go on any missions anytime soon. We all noticed how pained you seemed when we tackled you. And we are on our vay-cay. Attacks have been non-existent and everything seems to be going smoothly, so they don't need to send us on missions when there are none to be sent on! So…Hina-chan, how long is our time off?"

"Two weeks," she answered, tapping the counter with her fingernails.

"Yay! So we have two whole weeks to find you a boyfriend. My Annual Summer Par-tay is coming up and we all need to have dates," said Ino, checking her nails.

I sighed and said nothing. I had a boyfriend. But he left the village, never to return again, probably. So I was all alone…

Ayame turned and grabbed the bowls of ramen that we were waiting for and handed them to us. "Here you go guys! Enjoy."

They all smiled, thanked her, and dug in.

All except for me. I just pushed the bowl away and smiled weakly as they all stopped and looked at me.

"What's the matter, Sakura?" asked Ino, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"U-um, nothing. I have to go. It's getting late and my place is probably coated in dust," I said, standing up quickly. I placed a twenty on the table and walked away as fast as I could.

-x-

I hardly even remember what my house looked like. I hadn't been in it for a long time. So when I opened the door I smiled bigger than I have all day. It felt great to be home. I loved it here. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I inhaled deeply and closed my eyes. It smelled like cinnamon and a pine forest. How weird, but I like it.

I walked into the living room and picked up my cell phone off the counter. I touched the screen and it light up. I had a Blackberry Storm. Tsunade-sama asked me what kind of cell phone I wanted and threatened to slaughter the phone company if they didn't hand it over. Of course, Tsunade-sama always wants me to be happy.

I checked my inbox and I had tons of messages. All from today. I sighed and sat down to check them.

'Hey girl, wats with u leaving da ramen shop in a hurry???' - Ino [7:46 PM]

'Hello??! Sakura, txt me bak!' - Ino [7:52 PM]

'Come on, its not lyke ur mad at me or anything, right??!? - Ino [7:57 PM]

'Um sakura, ino is freaking out, u might wanna txt her back.' - Tenten [8:00 PM]

'Or not, fine be lyke that.' - Tenten [8:03 PM]

'Save me from the madness.' - Hinata [8:04 PM]

'Hinata's last message is a lie. We arent going mad!!!' - Tenten [8:06 PM]

'Well maybe just a little.' - Tenten [8:06 PM]

I sighed and smiled and decided to text Ino back.

'CHILL, girl, I wasn't even home yet! Gosh.' - Sakura [8:12 PM]

I tapped my phone and it went back to the main screen. My eyes narrowed as I saw my wallpaper. Sasuke and me standing in the training ground leaning on a tree. I went to my pictures and deleted almost everyone. The only ones I left were of me and my friends and two pictures of…of Naruto and me.

I smiled when I saw the pictures of us together. Naruto was laying in the grass and I was laying beside him. I was laughing about something he said and Naruto had took my phone and snapped the picture. This one was my wallpaper for a long time. When Sasuke wasn't there to get in the way of my friends.

My phone began playing 'SOS' by Rihanna. Ino was calling. I sighed and clicked the answer option on the screen. "Hey Ino."

"Sakura, ehmagod, you'll never guess who just asked if you were with us!" Ino's voice was loud and clear. I didn't even have her on speaker. Ouch.

"…Who?" I asked, not in the mood for guessing. If it was someone really important, she wouldn't be saying 'guess'.

"Naruto wanted to know where you were!" she practically yelled.

"…Okay? Did you ask him why?" Hm, so Naruto wanted to know where I was. That isn't a very big deal. He's asked them that before. I wonder what's different about it this time.

"You don't get it! He wanted to know where you were so he could come find you!" Apparently, Ino thinks I'm stupid.

"Um, OBVIOUSLY, Ino. But why does he want to come find me?" She was the stupid one here.

"Um, duh! Because he wants to talk to you!"

"…Okay. Well, what did you tell him?"

"I told him that you were at your house."

"Well I am."

"So that means he's coming! He'll be there any minute now!"

"WHAT?! Ehmagod, this place is a mess!"

"That's what I'm saying!"

"Ekkk! What do I do!?"

"Clean, woman, clean!"

"'Kay! See you."

"BYE!"

I clicked the end option and got up quickly. I only had a few minutes to get this place clean before Naruto arrived. I ran to the closet in the laundry room and pulled out anything I needed to get the dust off of everything.

I set to work, scrubbing and dusting and polishing everything in my sight.

After two minutes of work, everything was spotless.

I smiled to myself and then looked at the mirror hanging on the wall. I screamed as I saw my reflection. I was covered in dust and grim and whatever that green stuff was on my shoulder.

I ran down the hall to my bedroom and then into my bathroom. Without even remembering that I had minutes until he arrived, I stripped down to nothing and jumped in the shower. I scrubbed my hair and my entire self. I got cherry shampoo in my eye and spent at least five minutes trying to get it out.

When I shut off the water and got out, I grabbed a towel and wiped my face off. I shook out my hair and walked into my bedroom.

"S-Sakura-chan?!" I heard a voice off to my left.

I spun around quickly. "Naruto!?"

"Ah, Sakura-chan, I'm so sorry I walked in on you!" said Naruto, gasping and covering his eyes.

I blushed as I realized that I wasn't wearing anything. "T-That's okay, Naruto."

"I'll leave now! Sorry!" said Naruto, walking backwards and bumping into the door.

"No, no! You don't have to leave! It's not a big deal, really. You've seen me like this before." I said, wrapping the towel around the stuff that matter.

Naruto uncovered his eyes and blinked. "Huh?"

I laughed and walked over to him. "Silly." I pushed him out the door. "Wait in the living room and I'll be there in a second."

"Okay, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted from down the hall.

I giggled and closed the door. Naruto was such a goof.

I ran to my closet and pulled out my pajamas, since we were only going to talk and I was tired anyways. My pants were pink and had white stars and moons on them. These were my favorite, even though I don't know why. Probably because they are comfortable. My shirt was light pink and covered about two inches of my pants. I wasn't a big fan of having skin on my stomach showing. As I was getting dressed, I noticed how most of the clothes I owned were red and pink. Weird. It reminded me of Valentine's Day or something. Of course, those were my colors, but it was like I just realized it.

When I was dressed, I practically ran to the living room. "Ready, Naruto."

He grinned when he saw me. "Sakura-chan…"

I smiled back at him, and sat down beside him on my couch. "So, what brought you here?"

"Do I need a reason to see my best friend?" he asked innocently, smiling at me. He started playing with a strand of my pink hair and I laughed.

"So that's all? You just wanted to see me because you could?" I was kind of confused by Naruto. Sure, I always knew he liked me. I guess since Sasuke left he finally decided to step it up a little.

He nodded happily, letting go of my hair and putting his arm around me. "Yep! Does that bother you?" he asked, almost as if he was worried.

I raised an eyebrow. "Um, no. Not at all."

Naruto sighed in relief and I rested my head on his shoulder. Jeez, I could really get used to this. Sasuke was never this affectionate. Sure, kiss, kiss, hug, hug, goodbye. I mean, does it kill a guy to just stop and appreciate what he has in life every once in a while?

But right now, Sasuke was the last thing on my mind. All my thoughts were filled with the man sitting right beside me. I was thinking about the future. What would it be like if I actually was in a relationship with Naruto? How would it feel to walk around the village, hand in hand, with him? More importantly, how would he feel about it? How would I feel about it? I shook my head slightly. I should stop thinking about that. I could save that for tomorrow.

'I'm tired,' I thought suddenly as my eyelids felt heavy. Maybe if I just closed them for a moment. . .

You know you liked it. ;) Anyway... Review? Please? :3