Betrayed by LittleMissHippie

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

He was so very, very sorry.

He hadn't meant to, he swore. He didn't know what he was doing. It was crazy, he was crazy; insane, not in his right mind. And really it was just—

She didn't want to hear it.

"Sakura-chan, I'm sorry!"

The blonde male stood in front of Sakura as she sat on a bench—theterrible, goddang bench—while attempting to read a book. She ignored Naruto's presence and turned a page.

"You have every right to be mad… I would be mad at me, too! But please Sakura, just hear me out."

Her hand paused as it started to turn another page. She closed her book and then, without looking at the guy in front of her, replied.

"I'm listening."

He fought a grin from spreading across his face. "Okay, I'm going to start at the beginning—"

"What were you doing with her?"

It had hurt so much, watching him… embrace her best friend. It was wrong. And she kept reminding herself and reminding herself – wrong, wrong, WRONG – because if she didn't… She would forgive him. Them. She always forgave them.

Naruto winced at the way she'd spoken. "Uh, well…"

"Yes?"

"You know I'm crazy, right? I'm crazy in love with—"

"Ino."

He shut up. He closed his eyes as he heard the pain oozing from that one word – that one name…

"That's why you did it, isn't it? That's why I—"

"No, Sakura-chan, it's not like that! It's not like that!" She had to understand. She wasn't understanding.

"—caught you two kissing?"

The way she said that word; the way she talked about what she'd caught them doing…

"Sakura, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"

She smiled at him. He had to look away because her smile was so sad and it had so much pain and she was so clearly heartbroken.

"Apologies can only fix so much, Naruto."

There was so much damage.

He desperately wanted to fix it; to fix her. It had been an accident and didn't we all make mistakes?He didn't want her to fake-smile like that anymore. He didn't want to see her pain and sadness and heartbrokenness. He wanted her to be fine and really smile and be happy again.

She couldn't be fixed.

It had been days.

Ino was starting to get worried—What if she doesn't forgive me? What if I really hurt her?—but she brushed all her worries aside. After all, they were best friends. And best friends didn't just stop being friends because of a simple incident—because of a boy.

But at the back of her mind, she knew.

She remembered back when they had been younger and they had fought and fought and fought until finally they weren't friends anymore. She remembered that they had been rivals for years. And, above all else she remembered why.

Ino tried to deny it for as long as she could. She tried to tell herself that their friendship was strong enough. But she wasn't stupid—she knew that one simple cliché.

After all, didn't everyone know that history had a nasty habit of repeating itself?

When she finally accepted the truth that their friendship was in danger, Ino went on a search to find Sakura.

She asked everyone—Kakashi, Tsunade, everyone—over and over Have you seen Sakura? Have you seen Sakura? And nobody seemed to know where she had gone.

"Ino-chan," Naruto told her after informing her that Sakura was probably sitting on that bench, "I think… I think we really hurt her."

Ino looked away. "It was practically an accident. It didn't mean anything. I don't understand why Forehead is getting all emotional."

"Ino…" He stared at her.

"It was just a stupid kiss. Jeez. It's not like we slept together or anything."

"Ino, just stop," Naruto commanded. "You and I both know it isn't about that."

Ino turned her head sharply and glared at him. "Oh yeah, Naruto?"

"Will you just stop? Your little tough girl act isn't what either of us needs right now. I honestly think… I think we broke her, Ino."

Ino laughed bitterly. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me. Naruto, Forehead's a big girl. We didn't break her. We couldn't if we tried."

"Ino…"

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

Naruto sighed. "You really have to stop, if you're planning on talking to Sakura."

"You know what, Naruto? Maybe this is the only way I'll be able to get through this. Ever think of that? Maybe… maybe I feel guilty." She paused. "This is all my freakin' fault, you know? I've just about lost my best friend." Ino choked up a little. "Again."

"Trust me, I know this feeling. But you know what, Ino? You're only going to feel worse if you don't try to save your friendship. So… go talk to her. Apologize. At this point, that's all you can really do."

Ino wiped her eyes and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll do that." She turned and started to head towards that bench, then paused. "Thank you for putting up with me, Naruto."

Naruto managed a smile. "No problem, Ino."

Nobody understood.

Nobody understood why she was so upset, so sad, so miserable. Sakura Haruno?, they asked in disbelief. Depressed? Nobody understood that aching feeling she had, that feeling that made her sob uncontrollably when she even thought about what had happened. Nobody understood how the Sakura Haruno had been reduced to sitting on the same bench all day crying. But really, it was simple.

Sakura Haruno had been betrayed.

"Forehead?"

Nothing. Not even a blink in Ino's direction.

"…Sakura?"

A page turned. Sakura still refused to acknowledge Ino's presence.

"I'm… I'm sorry, alright? It was an accident—sort of. I mean… it's not like it meant anything…"

"Why did you do it?"

Ino was startled; she had not expected an actual response. She had not expected this question. "What?"

"I want to know why you did it. Why you decided to… to…" Sakura struggled for the right words.

"I didn't think you'd ask that. I didn't think you cared about the why, more so the what."

"You're avoiding the subject, Ino."

Ino looked away for the second time that day. "It must have been something in the air."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "That's crap, and you know it." She sighed. "I don't know what I was expecting you to say. I wouldn't believe what you said anyway."

At this, Ino glared. "You know what, Forehead? I came all the way over here to freakin' apologize, and you're being a witch about it. So when you're ready to apologize to me, you know where to find me."

And with those final words, Ino gave up on their friendship.

Sai understood.

He liked to keep things simple—he had spent years trying to figure out basic human emotions and interactions and finally, finally one day he'd understood—and that's probably why he was the only one who realized why Sakura was so upset. It wasn't really about Naruto or Ino or anyone else, really. It was just about the simplest thing in the world. Anyone who knew Sakura's history should've immediately known what was really wrong.

Obviously, Sakura Haruno did not take betrayal well.

"It's happened before, hasn't it?" the dark-haired boy asked her. "You've been betrayed before?"

She laughed bitterly. "How'd you know?"

"I already knew about Sasuke, and what he did. As soon as I found out about Naruto and Ino… I realized you would be here, probably thinking about everything. Musing about betrayal." He paused. "You probably never thought they would betray you." It was not a question; it was a fact.

She nodded sadly. "Sasuke, I could sort of understand. He was Sasuke. He had never made me any promises. He had never said he loved me. He was just… Sasuke. But Naruto and Ino… Naruto, he…" Sakura started crying. "He said he loved me, Sai. He said I was the girl of his dreams. So why…?"

Sai sat down on the bench next to her. "You know, Ugly, people don't make sense." Sai stared up at the sky as clouds slowly moved. "It took me years of researching and asking questions and getting experience but in the end… People just don't make sense."

"You're right. Oh god, you're right." Sakura turned towards Sai. "I think… I think it was just the betrayal part. They were the two people I thought would never betray me and then…"

"I understand."

Sakura blinked once. He understands, she thought as she leaned towards him, her lips inching closer towards his.

As Sakura kissed Sai, she thought about what she was doing. She thought about how if she closed her eyes, she could pretend she was kissing the guy that had betrayed her all those years; she thought about how right this second, she was betraying Naruto and Ino. Naruto by breaking his heart, just as he had broken hers; Ino by kissing the guy she loved, just as she had to her.

And above all else, she was thinking about how betrayal left a mark on one's heart—a mark that was never, ever erased, even though you wished it would just disappear. It was a mark that you never knew existed, until you were betrayed again.

If you have a question or comment, please REVIEW! I'll try to get back to you.

'till next time,

LittleMissHippie