Fanfiction - Naruto - Betrayal
Title: Betrayal
Fandom/Universe: Naruto
Character(s): Naruto, Sakura
Rating: Teen
(...you would have been so proud...)
- - -
Betrayal
- - -
“Let’s get out of here.”
Sakura stirs from her sleep. Slowly, she rises out of bed and rubs her tired eyes with equally tired hands.
“Naruto?” She asks through a yawn.
The blond boy grins and nuzzles his face into his hands. Sakura blushes under his piercing gaze.
“What are you looking at, pervert?” She snaps, pulling her covers up a bit more.
Naruto simply continues staring at her.
“Would you stop that?” She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns. “You’re creeping me out, Naruto. Why can’t you just act normal for once in your -”
“Let’s get out of here.” He interrupts.
She looks at him. He’s kneeling by the side of her bed and gazing at her with big, blue eyes as he rests his head in his hands. The blush is gone when she finally realizes that he’s not trying to be flirty or perverted.
“What’s wrong, Naruto?” She asks him. He turns his head to look out the window.
“I’ve got a bad feeling.”
She sighs in exasperation.
“Oh, Naruto. You had me worried there for a few seconds. I thought something had happened or that you were trying to -” She trails off when he reaches out to touch her hair. Her eyes widen as he winds his fingers around a few lone strands.
“We’ve got to go Sakura-chan.”
And then he collapses.
“Naruto!” She cries out. In an instant she is out of bed and kneeling down beside him, checking for wounds, for injuries, for something that would make him just...fall like that. She latches onto his jacket and quickly unzips it. She runs her hands over his chest and then presses her ear to his heart. It’s beating is sporadic and fast.
She runs her hand along his cheek and he’s burning.
“Naruto...” She half-sobs before mentally slapping herself and then starts working her chakra into her hands, preparing to heal whatever is ailing her blond friend.
“Sakura-chan...” She pauses as he cracks open one eye and smiles at her a little.
“You idiot! You’re exhausted! What happened?!” She demands as she focuses her attention back to the chakra flowing down her arms.
“I saw him.”
And in an flash the control is gone and she finds herself toppling forward before managing to catch herself.
“What?!” She breathes and its not a question or a statement, but a desperate plea.
“I saw Sasuke.”
She inhales sharply, because she feels deprived of breath all of a sudden and she’s not quite sure why.
“Oh.”
“Sakura-chan?” Naruto questions uneasily. She smiles, but he notices that her lip trembles just a tiny bit. He wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her close and (surprisingly) she doesn’t resist. She allows him to bring her closer than she ever wanted to be and even lets him gently wrap his arms around her neck in a suffocating hug (And she should know, after all - she is the master of suffocating hugs, right Sasuke-kun?). She even hugs him back, just a little.
“What...?” So many questions, but she’s finding that she no longer has the words.
“It was in the forest. I saw him. I followed. He knew. I tried to catch him, but...” His words sound so broken, so tragic. “He’s so fast Sakura-chan. I knew it right away. I couldn’t catch him. I’d never catch him. But I kept following. And he kept getting further away. And Sakura-chan...I tried.” His voice cracks here and she stifles a sob. She doesn’t want to give him any more reasons to feel guilty. She. does. not. blame. Naruto. Suddenly the broken tone changes...becomes lighter. “So fast, Sakura-chan. You’d have been so proud if you saw him. I was. I never even knew it was possible to move that quick.”
She giggles into his chest. He laughs and tugs lightly on her hair.
“Hey! Don’t do that! It tickles!”
“Sorry.” She mumbles into his chest and he wiggles underneath her.
“Sakura-chan!”
She lifts her head up and begins laughing, laughing hysterically like some foolish twelve year old girl instead of a broken seventeen year old. And its that thought that breaks her. With a gasp her laughter turns into wracking sobs and there is nothing she can do to make it stop.
“Sakura-chan...” Naruto whispers as he tries to lift himself, but he’s still breathing too fast and his heart is still pounding.
“I’m all right!” She says in a oddly high voice. She rubs her eyes with her hands and tries to grin at him. “I’m all right, Naruto.”
He knows she is not, but he also knows better than to call her a liar.
“Was it Sa-...was it him that did this to you?” She asks, trying to sound unaffected, but he knows her too well and that thought used to scare her, but she’s come to accept it.
Naruto is quiet for a few moments. She watches as he screws up his face in concentration as if trying to find the right words.
“Kinda. He didn’t attack me, if that’s what you mean Sakura-chan, but when I chased him I just kept going...even though it was pointless. I didn’t want to stop. Even when he was completely out of sight I just...kept moving forward. On and on. I must’ve turned back at some point though...’cause I’m here.” He shakes his head a little. “But I don’t remember the way home. Not really. I just remember thinking that I just had to get closer. Had to just...touch more than air.” He sighs sadly. “Guess I failed again, Sakura-chan...”
She runs a hand along his cheek, traces the whiskers on his round face. She smiles gently as she moves her hand.
“You’re so...stupid, Naruto. You could have gotten yourself killed out there, y’know?”
(At times she has wondered what it would be like to love Naruto. She imagines soft kisses and teasing arguments. She sees warmth and affection and everything a girl could ever need. She would be comfortable and happy and they could drop their silly need for their not-so silly missing friend. Everything would be perfect.)
“I know.”
(She can see it all so clearly in her mind’s eye.)
Another pause.
“Sakura-chan? Let’s get out of here.”
(The perfect life.)
“What are you talking about?”
He’s taken her hand off his face and is now holding it in his own. He twines their fingers together and then peels them apart. He stares at them in the moonlight and at times brings them dangerously near his mouth and inner Sakura is daring him to nibble on just one.
(And it could all be hers.)
“Just like it sounds. Let’s leave Konoha. Let’s explore the cities. Let’s travel the world. Let’s...” He growls and squeezes her hand a little too tight. “Oh - I dunno! But let’s do something. I mean...Konoha’s got all these great fighters here to protect it from trouble. They don’t need us. So...” He gives a quick tug on her arm and she is thrust into his embrace yet again. He squeezes her body against his and bites down gently on one of her ears. She inhales sharply. “let’s leave. Let’s betray Konoha.”
“Naruto...” She is shaking and pitiful. “We can’t...”
(But - god help her - she doesn’t want it.)
“Why not?” He demands and she knows what he’s really asking.
“I love him.”
(She could never want it. Never-ever-never...even though Naruto was sweet to her and Naruto loved her and Naruto was Naruto and he could give her the world and but she’d have to give it right back because she doesn’t want it. Not from him.)
black hair and black eyes and black soul and so dark it BURNED
“...”
“Naruto?”
(He was good to her and she’d never be able to repay him, but she knew better than to let him follow her blindly. She loved him enough to make sure that he never became her. Her only gift.)
she loved him as a child and it was real love and it meant something to her and sometimes to him too and she’d once dreamed of beautiful dark babies with bright green eyes and too much love in their hearts and there was still so much hope inside of her broken self and she could never let go of those days
“He asked for you.”
“Naruto...”
“Well...not exactly, but I heard him when I first met up with him. He said: ‘Naruto?... and... hnn.’ He was gonna say your name Sakura-chan - I know it.”
“Thank-you...Naruto.”
He nods and lets his arms fall so that they rest gently by her waist.
Neither speaks for a long time.
Surprisingly Sakura is the one to break the silence.
With a grunt she lifts herself off the floor and starts to move about the small apartment, rummaging through various drawers.
“Sakura-chan?”
“Hush a minute.”
“But...”
“Trust me.” She smiles warmly at him. He grins back.
“Right.”
After a few minutes she comes back to him, two packs in her hands. He raises an eyebrow.
“What are you -?” He begins, but she cuts him off by dropping to the ground beside him and kissing him fiercely. His eyes widen in surprise as she pulls away as quickly as she moved in.
“Naruto,” She begins, crossing her arms over her chest. “If I had said yes after you asked me to leave Konoha with you...would you have been happy? Would it have truly pleased you if had agreed to forget everyone and everything and just go with you?”
He thinks for a moment and then...
“No. I wouldn’t have liked it at all. I would have been upset that you were actually willing to just...forget.”
“Let’s go then.”
“Huh? Sakura-chan...you’re making my head hurt!” He complains. She laughs a little bit.
“What you were asking earlier was that I just left with you. That we betrayed Konoha...but more importantly...you were asking me to betray Sasuke-kun.” She sighs. “But you know as well as I do that we could never do that. Not you. Not me. We’ve come so far...for him. We can’t give that up now. But...” She closes her eyes as a gentle breeze flows in from the open window and its warm and inviting and she’s ready. “We can leave. Together.” She pushes a pack into his arms. “We’ll leave Konoha. We’ll explore the cities. We’ll travel the world. And...”
His grin is infectious as he finishes her sentence for her.
“We’ll find Sasuke.”
She nods.
He leaps to his feet in an instant and pulls her into a crushing bear hug, before swinging her onto his back. She thinks about protesting, but decides it doesn’t matter. With a smile, she wraps her arms gently around his neck and buries her face into his back.
“Where should we look first, Sakura-chan?” She hears him ask.
She looks out the window, to the darkened streets below. The city is lit by dimming lanterns. The shadows twist and bend in intricate dances beneath them and she realizes just how ready she is to leave it all behind. She takes a deep breath and tugs playfully on Naruto’s ear.
“The sky.”
Naruto obliges.
a/n: One day I'll write more than just Naruto stuff. I'll get back to Kingdom Hearts and Original Stuff. I'm sure.
I figured I'd put up something public. Just so people who aren't on my friends list don't feel too abandoned.
:heart:
Fandom/Universe: Naruto
Character(s): Naruto, Sakura
Rating: Teen
(...you would have been so proud...)
- - -
Betrayal
- - -
“Let’s get out of here.”
Sakura stirs from her sleep. Slowly, she rises out of bed and rubs her tired eyes with equally tired hands.
“Naruto?” She asks through a yawn.
The blond boy grins and nuzzles his face into his hands. Sakura blushes under his piercing gaze.
“What are you looking at, pervert?” She snaps, pulling her covers up a bit more.
Naruto simply continues staring at her.
“Would you stop that?” She crosses her arms over her chest and frowns. “You’re creeping me out, Naruto. Why can’t you just act normal for once in your -”
“Let’s get out of here.” He interrupts.
She looks at him. He’s kneeling by the side of her bed and gazing at her with big, blue eyes as he rests his head in his hands. The blush is gone when she finally realizes that he’s not trying to be flirty or perverted.
“What’s wrong, Naruto?” She asks him. He turns his head to look out the window.
“I’ve got a bad feeling.”
She sighs in exasperation.
“Oh, Naruto. You had me worried there for a few seconds. I thought something had happened or that you were trying to -” She trails off when he reaches out to touch her hair. Her eyes widen as he winds his fingers around a few lone strands.
“We’ve got to go Sakura-chan.”
And then he collapses.
“Naruto!” She cries out. In an instant she is out of bed and kneeling down beside him, checking for wounds, for injuries, for something that would make him just...fall like that. She latches onto his jacket and quickly unzips it. She runs her hands over his chest and then presses her ear to his heart. It’s beating is sporadic and fast.
She runs her hand along his cheek and he’s burning.
“Naruto...” She half-sobs before mentally slapping herself and then starts working her chakra into her hands, preparing to heal whatever is ailing her blond friend.
“Sakura-chan...” She pauses as he cracks open one eye and smiles at her a little.
“You idiot! You’re exhausted! What happened?!” She demands as she focuses her attention back to the chakra flowing down her arms.
“I saw him.”
And in an flash the control is gone and she finds herself toppling forward before managing to catch herself.
“What?!” She breathes and its not a question or a statement, but a desperate plea.
“I saw Sasuke.”
She inhales sharply, because she feels deprived of breath all of a sudden and she’s not quite sure why.
“Oh.”
“Sakura-chan?” Naruto questions uneasily. She smiles, but he notices that her lip trembles just a tiny bit. He wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her close and (surprisingly) she doesn’t resist. She allows him to bring her closer than she ever wanted to be and even lets him gently wrap his arms around her neck in a suffocating hug (And she should know, after all - she is the master of suffocating hugs, right Sasuke-kun?). She even hugs him back, just a little.
“What...?” So many questions, but she’s finding that she no longer has the words.
“It was in the forest. I saw him. I followed. He knew. I tried to catch him, but...” His words sound so broken, so tragic. “He’s so fast Sakura-chan. I knew it right away. I couldn’t catch him. I’d never catch him. But I kept following. And he kept getting further away. And Sakura-chan...I tried.” His voice cracks here and she stifles a sob. She doesn’t want to give him any more reasons to feel guilty. She. does. not. blame. Naruto. Suddenly the broken tone changes...becomes lighter. “So fast, Sakura-chan. You’d have been so proud if you saw him. I was. I never even knew it was possible to move that quick.”
She giggles into his chest. He laughs and tugs lightly on her hair.
“Hey! Don’t do that! It tickles!”
“Sorry.” She mumbles into his chest and he wiggles underneath her.
“Sakura-chan!”
She lifts her head up and begins laughing, laughing hysterically like some foolish twelve year old girl instead of a broken seventeen year old. And its that thought that breaks her. With a gasp her laughter turns into wracking sobs and there is nothing she can do to make it stop.
“Sakura-chan...” Naruto whispers as he tries to lift himself, but he’s still breathing too fast and his heart is still pounding.
“I’m all right!” She says in a oddly high voice. She rubs her eyes with her hands and tries to grin at him. “I’m all right, Naruto.”
He knows she is not, but he also knows better than to call her a liar.
“Was it Sa-...was it him that did this to you?” She asks, trying to sound unaffected, but he knows her too well and that thought used to scare her, but she’s come to accept it.
Naruto is quiet for a few moments. She watches as he screws up his face in concentration as if trying to find the right words.
“Kinda. He didn’t attack me, if that’s what you mean Sakura-chan, but when I chased him I just kept going...even though it was pointless. I didn’t want to stop. Even when he was completely out of sight I just...kept moving forward. On and on. I must’ve turned back at some point though...’cause I’m here.” He shakes his head a little. “But I don’t remember the way home. Not really. I just remember thinking that I just had to get closer. Had to just...touch more than air.” He sighs sadly. “Guess I failed again, Sakura-chan...”
She runs a hand along his cheek, traces the whiskers on his round face. She smiles gently as she moves her hand.
“You’re so...stupid, Naruto. You could have gotten yourself killed out there, y’know?”
(At times she has wondered what it would be like to love Naruto. She imagines soft kisses and teasing arguments. She sees warmth and affection and everything a girl could ever need. She would be comfortable and happy and they could drop their silly need for their not-so silly missing friend. Everything would be perfect.)
“I know.”
(She can see it all so clearly in her mind’s eye.)
Another pause.
“Sakura-chan? Let’s get out of here.”
(The perfect life.)
“What are you talking about?”
He’s taken her hand off his face and is now holding it in his own. He twines their fingers together and then peels them apart. He stares at them in the moonlight and at times brings them dangerously near his mouth and inner Sakura is daring him to nibble on just one.
(And it could all be hers.)
“Just like it sounds. Let’s leave Konoha. Let’s explore the cities. Let’s travel the world. Let’s...” He growls and squeezes her hand a little too tight. “Oh - I dunno! But let’s do something. I mean...Konoha’s got all these great fighters here to protect it from trouble. They don’t need us. So...” He gives a quick tug on her arm and she is thrust into his embrace yet again. He squeezes her body against his and bites down gently on one of her ears. She inhales sharply. “let’s leave. Let’s betray Konoha.”
“Naruto...” She is shaking and pitiful. “We can’t...”
(But - god help her - she doesn’t want it.)
“Why not?” He demands and she knows what he’s really asking.
“I love him.”
(She could never want it. Never-ever-never...even though Naruto was sweet to her and Naruto loved her and Naruto was Naruto and he could give her the world and but she’d have to give it right back because she doesn’t want it. Not from him.)
black hair and black eyes and black soul and so dark it BURNED
“...”
“Naruto?”
(He was good to her and she’d never be able to repay him, but she knew better than to let him follow her blindly. She loved him enough to make sure that he never became her. Her only gift.)
she loved him as a child and it was real love and it meant something to her and sometimes to him too and she’d once dreamed of beautiful dark babies with bright green eyes and too much love in their hearts and there was still so much hope inside of her broken self and she could never let go of those days
“He asked for you.”
“Naruto...”
“Well...not exactly, but I heard him when I first met up with him. He said: ‘Naruto?... and... hnn.’ He was gonna say your name Sakura-chan - I know it.”
“Thank-you...Naruto.”
He nods and lets his arms fall so that they rest gently by her waist.
Neither speaks for a long time.
Surprisingly Sakura is the one to break the silence.
With a grunt she lifts herself off the floor and starts to move about the small apartment, rummaging through various drawers.
“Sakura-chan?”
“Hush a minute.”
“But...”
“Trust me.” She smiles warmly at him. He grins back.
“Right.”
After a few minutes she comes back to him, two packs in her hands. He raises an eyebrow.
“What are you -?” He begins, but she cuts him off by dropping to the ground beside him and kissing him fiercely. His eyes widen in surprise as she pulls away as quickly as she moved in.
“Naruto,” She begins, crossing her arms over her chest. “If I had said yes after you asked me to leave Konoha with you...would you have been happy? Would it have truly pleased you if had agreed to forget everyone and everything and just go with you?”
He thinks for a moment and then...
“No. I wouldn’t have liked it at all. I would have been upset that you were actually willing to just...forget.”
“Let’s go then.”
“Huh? Sakura-chan...you’re making my head hurt!” He complains. She laughs a little bit.
“What you were asking earlier was that I just left with you. That we betrayed Konoha...but more importantly...you were asking me to betray Sasuke-kun.” She sighs. “But you know as well as I do that we could never do that. Not you. Not me. We’ve come so far...for him. We can’t give that up now. But...” She closes her eyes as a gentle breeze flows in from the open window and its warm and inviting and she’s ready. “We can leave. Together.” She pushes a pack into his arms. “We’ll leave Konoha. We’ll explore the cities. We’ll travel the world. And...”
His grin is infectious as he finishes her sentence for her.
“We’ll find Sasuke.”
She nods.
He leaps to his feet in an instant and pulls her into a crushing bear hug, before swinging her onto his back. She thinks about protesting, but decides it doesn’t matter. With a smile, she wraps her arms gently around his neck and buries her face into his back.
“Where should we look first, Sakura-chan?” She hears him ask.
She looks out the window, to the darkened streets below. The city is lit by dimming lanterns. The shadows twist and bend in intricate dances beneath them and she realizes just how ready she is to leave it all behind. She takes a deep breath and tugs playfully on Naruto’s ear.
“The sky.”
Naruto obliges.
a/n: One day I'll write more than just Naruto stuff. I'll get back to Kingdom Hearts and Original Stuff. I'm sure.
I figured I'd put up something public. Just so people who aren't on my friends list don't feel too abandoned.
:heart: