Warning: This is what may be called a "Sakura bash fest" - a story that should not be taken seriously. It wasn't written with the intention of it being a literary masterpiece, so if you have a problem with this, then don't read the thing!

Sasuke-kun, you fiend!

Yet again, I felt my temper explode within a split second. So I did what I always did when this happens. I lifted my arm and gave Naruto a hard hit on his head, yelling at him to shut up – how could he make such an inappropriate comment?

But then, before I could even finish my sentence as I scolded him, I felt a sharp blow on the side of my waist.

I gasped and instinctively held my aching body, wincing. I looked sideways and saw Hinata glaring at me with such ferocity, I recoiled. She was standing only a few feet away from me. I noticed the position of her hands for the first split second and knew she had just hit me with a swift Jyuuken attack.

"Don't you dare hit him again, or else…" she threatened.

I could only gape at her in disbelief. This girl had suddenly used one of her special noble family powers on me!

"Hinata!" said Naruto, holding up his hands at her and standing between us. "It's alright, you don't need to…"

"Why is it okay for her to hit you?" she snapped, furious. I was so surprised at her attitude I couldn't think about how I should react. "You're not a kid anymore, Naruto-kun! She needs to respect you!"

"I said it was fine," he said softly, lovingly. He put his arm around her and held her close as he tried to calm her down.

I looked away. My hands balled into fists, and I was suddenly even more furious in addition to my shock.

How dare she?

I had become so angry at her at that moment, I wanted to gather all my strength and hit her so hard she would break in half. Then I heard her reprimand me in such a way, I barely recognized her voice.

"Sakura! After all he's done for you, this is how you still treat him? Grow up! Don't ever do that again, or I'll hit you for real!"

She stepped toward me but Naruto stopped her again.

"Hinata, that's enough!" he said with the same shock I felt. "That's just the way she is-"

"I don't care, it's just wrong!" she snapped, filled with indignation.

The couple began arguing with each other. My mouth was still hanging open in disbelief.

"She's right you know, hitting is not a sign of a friendship," Sai said to me in his usual awkward randomness, staring at me curiously. I glared at him and told him to shut up, venting my negative feelings at him through my eyes.

By the time I thought about a comeback for Hinata, Naruto had already dragged her away somewhere and both were out of sight. The few other ninja that had gathered there were all staring at me in disbelief, which increased my rage and embarrassment. I forced myself to leave for the sake of anyone else's safety. The taunts from Ino definitely weren't helping, and I felt like I could accidentally kill someone if I was provoked again in the slightest.

I flew away, ignoring them all, knowing that in a little while I'd be a little more like myself again.

It was only perfect when, later that afternoon, I saw her alone outside, staring up at the sky in a daze like always.

Hell Yes!

It was the perfect opportunity to carry out a plan I had been dying to put into action for some time.

"Hey, Hinata," I called, forcing my voice to sound as friendly as possible as I approached her.

"Oh, Sakura," she answered as sweetly as always, but I could still detect her dislike. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to see if you could train with me," I explained as innocently as possible, suppressing a smirk. "Sensei told me that right now, we were equals, so we'd be perfect training partners."

She was surprised and didn't reply.

"Come on," I insisted. "You know we should all be training as much as possible, especially now that so many battles lay ahead of us. I'll heal our injuries very quickly so you shouldn't worry about that."

"Um…I'm not at all afraid of getting hurt. You, of all people, should know that."

"Well what is it, then?" I snapped back a little too irritably. "Let's go now, and not hold back."

We stared at each other in silence for a moment. Her expression was guarded, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she suspected what was my true motivation.

"Okay then, if you insist," she finally said. "I won't hold back either. Let's go."

I clenched my fists in irritation, but before my temper could take over again, I turned around abruptly.

"Follow me. I know the perfect spot."

Soon after that, we were standing facing each other on opposite sides of the clearing, between the nearby river and the thick vegetation of the forest. The sun was beginning to set behind the mountains.

I giggled at her as I readjusted my gloves. "Don't worry. I won't use my full strength on you."

"Don't underestimate me," warned Hinata.

"Whatever."

I summoned all my speed again and charged at her. "Prepare yourself!" I yelled, and my fist flew toward her stomach, covered with my powerful chakra.

"I am," she whispered, and shocked me by dodging my attack with a speed I had no clue she possessed. She somehow managed to hit me on the back of my neck, instantly making me feel dizzy for a few seconds. I almost collapsed but summoned a great amount of chakra toward my legs and jumped away from her quickly, landing on the other side of the clearing on one knee.

I was surprised. I held the back of my neck with my hand, directing chakra over there to heal the chakra damage she had just inflicted with her Jyuuken attack. I glared at her furiously.

She kept her posture and was smirking at me, which worsened my anger.

"Don't get arrogant now! I wasn't even trying!"

"I thought you wanted to fight seriously," she teased.

"I am! Just wait. I'll wipe that little smirk off your face!"

I charged at her again at full speed.

"A weakling shouldn't be with the future Hokage!" I yelled before I could stop myself, the bottled up rage finally surfacing with the adrenaline of the fight. The chakra accumulating on my fists increased dramatically. She was able to block my attacks but I was also able to block hers. Neither had the upper hand all of the sudden, and for a while we were fighting equally.

"Don't misunderstand, Hinata. Right now, we are kunoichi seeking to improve our skills, and I will be very serious with you!"

"I didn't know you were like this. I thought you were smarter," she said, filled with disappointment, which dangerously increased my anger to a level it should never reach. I sure didn't expect that comment, especially coming from the girl who used to be nicknamed 'the silent kunoichi.'

I finally managed to push her back a few feet with a blow to her chest.

"I see Naruto's really changed you after all," I thought out loud, charging at her again without allowing her to recover. "Drastically!"

"He's always helped me."

She dodged my attack and startled me again when she somehow managed to hit me hard on the stomach, causing me to fly back and land on the floor.

"As you can see, I have also trained with him recently."

"Can you speak of anything else?" I screamed, getting up just in time to block her next attack. "Can you think for yourself? Get a life, Hinata!"

Then something I had never witnessed before happened: Hinata actually got angry. "You're telling me to get a life!" she said with a volume of voice she probably never used.

Again, I felt another sharp blow on my stomach, this time forcing me to dodge the next one and fly back as far a possible. I directed chakra to my hand and healed the spot as fast as I could while I continued to glare at her.

Then I realized my opponent was standing as motionless as me on the other side and that her expression was strangely blank. Everything around me stayed the same except that after a while I could no longer see Hinata, like she had just vanished.

"Sakura."

The voice resonating all around me and within me was awfully familiar, and immediately my heart stopped. Cold chills ran throughout my body, shooting up my spine. The trees all around appeared to bend awkwardly and change into dark, unnatural colors of a reddish tone, along with the ground and the sky. My body was suddenly weightless and with horror I felt the ground beneath me disappear, and I was falling down a dark abyss.

My screams were deafening. I felt like I would never stop falling and eventually my heart would explode and I would die before hitting solid ground. But then out of nowhere the sensation was replaced with the excruciating pain of every bone in my body shattering as I landed somewhere. My throat was aching after at last I was silent, another wave of terror overcoming me when I realized my body was still impossibly intact and that I was standing where I had just been moments before. The clearing looked the same except there was still no Hinata.

A cruel laugh broke the perfect silence. I jumped up and tried to be on guard, my knife ready, but I couldn't locate its source.

"Sorry. Did that hurt you?" a cold voice said from right behind me.

"Sasuke!" I screamed before I could stop myself and instinctively attacked with my elbow, but wasn't fast enough. A hand grabbed my arm and bright blue beams of electricity surrounded me completely.

I fell on my knees screaming, twitching on the ground until the electricity disappeared. I managed to stand up again and guard myself with the knife pointing before me.

Only a few feet away he stood in all his horrible glory, Akatsuki suit impeccable, his dark hair in its unique casual disarray. His face was way colder and more intimidating than I ever remembered. Yet his beauty was so striking that not even then could I stop my heart from beating madly, making me struggle as much as possible to reenter the battle mindframe. It was an automatic reaction, the same as flinching when something flies by close to your face, a physiological response.

My concentration suffered for a few critical instants.

His lips curved into a mischievous smirk as he looked at me. I noticed his red sharingan eyes were different, and with horror I realized why.

"What do you want from me?" I demanded, frightened so much I was also ashamed.

"Is that how you greet an old friend?" he replied, his voice also much colder than I remembered. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

"Sasuke…what on earth happened to you?" I muttered, my voice shaking. "Look at you, another Akatsuki criminal! How can you dare to be this close to Konoha? Naruto and the others, they'll come here soon and - "

I was interrupted by an intense piercing sensation in my stomach that left me breathless and tense with a fresh wave of pain. Sasuke's familiar scent filled my nostrils as the wind swept his hair against my face. Out of nowhere it seemed his body had pressed against mine, and he was stabbing me with one hand and pulling me closer against him with the other. I spat out blood.

His lips brushed against my ear as he spoke.

"Haven't trained against genjutsu much, have you?" he whispered, his breath against my skin. "Maybe I could be a good friend and teach you a lesson, then. After all you did for me, it's the least I can do."

Slowly he rotated the sword inside me. I shrieked. "Stop!"

"Kakashi told us all about this, remember?" His voice was chilling in its detachment. "You have to will your mind to not accept this reality. This way the pain lessens. Or do you want to feel this agony for hours, maybe?"

He continued his cruel torture until my screams transformed into desperate sobs. Without realizing it, I was yelling Naruto's name. Sasuke laughed mirthfully for the first time I witnessed it, and he turned the sword around in another angle. The pain was so excruciating I went mute for a second.

"Stop!" I screamed.

"How disappointing. If Konoha can only produce useless jokes of a ninja like you, that's yet another reason it should be destroyed."

I was numb in an instant. He had his hand on the side of my face and now I was motionless again and the pain was completely gone.

"It's in my power to bring it all back if I choose," he whispered, his face now so close to mine his lips almost brushed against mine. "Now give me a good reason why I shouldn't?"

My mind felt like it was suspended in thin air, reason leaving me completely. There was no way it could work properly when his fierce eyes burned into mine so intensely and the lips were so awfully close…it was a state of mind deeply engraved, consequence of so many years of intense desire. My thoughts were scattered like random parts of strings that had been cut up and thrown into the air.

"Please don't – I – If you need – I could…be useful…"

He actually chuckled, another first. "How could that possibly be so?"

"Highly accomplished…medical nin."

"Already have one with me. What else?"

I did not expect that reply. Panic returned to me quickly.

"Sasuke-kun…why are you doing this? What have I done to you?"

"Tell me a reason."

"We were comrades, best friends. You've achieved your goal – why are you doing this? Why?"

"Shut up and tell me a reason right now, or I'll make it worse," he snapped.

"Super strength?"

"Pfft! If all you got is that brute strength I've heard about, it's useless against powers like mine – you would not last a second in the battlefield," he snarled hatefully. "You annoying, useless girl – you think you're above the rest, but it's always been the other way around."

In another split second everything came back like a collision. The blade turned bright blue and beams covered me again in yet another episode of intense agony. I screamed desperately that I hated him, that I hated he ever came into existence.

"You weakling," he teased calmly, watching me twitch with amusement but with a frightening glow in his eyes. "If you don't become strong enough for me to not feel ashamed you were once my teammate, next time I see you, I will kill you."

"You bastard! You evil bastard! I hate you!"

There came a point, eventually, when I thought I would definitely die. The ground hit my face hard after he pulled the sword away and I collapsed again.

I laughed mirthlessly, attempting to replace a sob. Why on earth had it taken me this long to realize just how extremely idiotic I've been? I completely wasted my energies for years, obsessing over a person with a heart of stone, when its exact opposite was right next to me the whole time, falling victim to my lousy temper? How had I failed to notice what an angel Naruto is especially compared to this evil, merciless prince?

I cried out loud, no longer able to suppress it. I had had numerous chances to be happy, yet I decided to go down the wrong path. Now I lay in the cold, dark night, suffering unimaginably and crying pathetically on the ground like an abused child.

"Sasuke-kun," I whispered. "Just kill me now. Hurry up. End this, you fiend."

No reply came. I remained motionless on the floor, unable to gather the strength to move.

I felt disoriented, but suddenly incredibly relieved. I didn't know what happened, or how; yet I knew everything was okay now because I was walking toward the gates of the Leaf Village.

I never realized how much I adored my home until that moment. Oh, how much I desperately yearned for it, and it was ever so close to me now, with every step getting closer unusually fast. I couldn't feel my legs but paid no attention to this. I knew I was gliding strangely instead of walking, but my mind could only focus on one person; the bright, contagious smile, the spiky blonde hair, the sparkling, energetic blue eyes, the loud, obnoxious voice…

"Naruto! Naruto!" I shrieked, my voice shaking with emotion. "Please forgive me! I was the stupidest person on earth! Please accept me now! Naruto! Come to me, save me! I love you so much!"

Sooner than possible, he was in my arms.

I couldn't stop kissing his face, warm against my lips, possessed as I was by an uncontrollable urge to hold on to him forever, refusing to be separated from him ever again. Tears of joy ran down my cheeks.

"Sakura?"

My heart skipped a beat. How utterly beautiful was his voice! How had I failed to notice it before?

"Naruto-kun!" I cried, and threw my arms over his shoulders, holding him tightly, kissing his cheeks. "Thank God!"

"Thank God!" he echoed. "Sakura-chan, I'm so glad you're safe!"

This bliss, this pure joy – I wished it would never, ever end.

But then the image faded and disappeared, and was replaced with another one.

I was surrounded by severely wounded villagers and ninjas. It was dejavu – this one had actually happened, only a few weeks before. I helped the kunoichi I had just healed to stand up, and she thanked me kindly. I tried to reciprocate this, but I only felt annoyed.

"Don't do something like that again, Hinata," I scolded her. "That was stupid."

She smiled weakly. "Sorry," she said, but didn't seem to mean it at all.

Then a loud voice screamed her name, and we all turned to see our new village hero running toward her. Naruto's expression suddenly shocked me; his elation at being victorious was evident, but what was there now was nothing but intense relief. Before I knew it, a sick feeling overcame me. What could possibly be more important to him than earning everyone's respect?

Everyone immediately ran toward him in celebration, and lifted him up with their hands. It was the moment he had dreamed about ever since I had known him as an obnoxious little boy. I glanced beside me and saw Hinata's eyes glow with pride as she stared up at him, smiling more brightly than she ever had. With a roll of nausea, I turned to look at the euphoric crowd again, attempting to distract myself.

As soon as he was standing on the ground again, they were wrapped tightly in each other's arms. I tried as much as possible to smile like everyone else cheering beside me, concealing the unpleasantness that was slowly increasing inside me.

"Thank God!" whispered Naruto desperately, repeating the phrase over and over again as he embraced Hinata ever so tightly, his head buried in her long hair. "Hinata, I'm so glad you're safe! Don't ever do that again."

Then, what seemed to me out of nowhere, their lips met. They crushed their faces together so passionately I automatically felt the blood rush to my face and my head turn away in embarrassment. I wanted to say something but I was speechless, completely shocked at the display of affection in front of so many injured villagers and fellow ninja. I was enraged without sense of reason, overwhelmed with a terrible, powerful feeling of despair and astonishment.

A savage side of me I hadn't known before protested, asking why had I bothered to heal her. I felt ashamed at the overwhelming negativity that saturated me and blinded me with shock. Then came Ino's voice, snapping me out of it.

"Sakura, are you okay?"

Now shame took over; my face must have looked murderous, utterly obvious and betraying me completely. "Wh-What? Of course I'm fine!" I answered unconvincingly.

Ino raised her eyebrows. "You need to heal this one, Sakura, the injury is very serious. I'll take care of the young girl here."

"Okay," I replied absent-mindedly, and resumed the healing duties automatically, my mind elsewhere.

My awareness came back to the present again, images gone, replaced with impenetrable darkness. His voice still resounded inside my head vividly."Thank God…!"

What cruel, horrible set of images. They were so much worse than all the physical torture I had just been forced to endure. Or, almost. Slowly the aching throughout my entire body returned to me, and I finally remembered that I had been dreaming and was laying facedown in the grass, moaning. If I had had any energy left, I would've been screaming again.

In the distance I heard Hinata's voice calling me desperately, asking what had happened, that I had suddenly collapsed. I try to reply but couldn't do anything and soon everything went black again.

Konoha Hospital

I spoke to my hands, knowing how miserable I must have looked. I was too ashamed to look into his eyes.

"He was definitely plotting something terrible," I whispered. "Naruto, we have to stop him. He plans to destroy Konoha."

Naruto was speechless, astounded. From the corner of my eye I could notice his stubbornness made him shake his head in disbelief.

"I looked into his eyes, Naruto, there's nothing there," I declared, raising my voice a little. "He's completely transformed into a soulless villain. There's no way to bring him back. I'm sorry I made you promise something impossible."

There was a long, silent pause.

"Nothing's impossible," Naruto whispered.

"Naruto it's time you face reality," I said firmly. "That evil bastard just tortured me with Mangekyou Sharingan. He's no different from Itachi; in fact, I think he's even more dangerous. I mean, even with my improved chakra sensing abilities he was able to trap me in an illusion before I was aware anyone was there."

Naruto was clearly horrified at this detail, but somehow managed to return to his optimistic, disbelieving composure again. "He's not our friend anymore, Naruto," I concluded. "He's a serious threat to our society."

"Sakura, I've always told you to never lose hope –"

"Don't you understand, you idiot?" I suddenly screamed, making him jump back. I was on my feet somehow, waving my hands in the air. His eyes were wide and he was gaping at me in shock. "I will never want you to bring back that monster! I hate him! I wish he was dead! Forget everything I said that day, OKAY?"

I was breathing heavily and probably looked utterly insane. He stared at me cautiously in silence for a few seconds.

Then my knees gave up on me, and I fell on the floor, sobs escaping me before I could stop myself.

"Sakura-chan!"

I felt his arm around me and his hand squeezing mine, immediately making me feel a little better. I could no longer understand what he said. The physical contact I had yearned for so long blinded and deafened me. I could no longer think. I threw my arms around his neck and cried on his shoulder, pressing my body against his as he kept trying to console me. I kept saying I was sorry.

At some point we were standing up holding each other as tightly as I had ever wished. The despair suddenly vanished, and my heart felt lighter than I had ever felt it. I wiped my tears and looked into his worried blue eyes, only inches away from mine.

I pressed my lips hard against his, holding his face firmly with my hands. For a second I was in heaven, but quickly I knew something was wrong. His entire body had tensed and I felt his hands clench my shoulders.

He was pushing me away gently, turning his intensely blushed, shocked face away from mine.

"Stop…" he whispered. His voice gave him away; he had gathered a great amount of self-control to do what he just did. He held me at arm's length as he directed me back to the bed.

"Why?" I asked, hurt beyond comprehension.

"Sakura, seriously, what the hell's gotten into you?"

He was suddenly irritated, which added to the pain in my chest. Without warning, that very ugly, degrading emotion took over me.

"It's her right? Hinata. She risked her life for you? So what! Naruto, I would die for you any day! I would kill for you! I would do anything for you!" I cried desperately. "Only now have I realized just how much I will always love you!"

He stared at me, speechless and completely shocked. His face suddenly looked innocent and childish again.

"Sakura-chan…"

"Oh, so you think I've gone crazy? You've known me all these years, you know me, and you know it's true!" I insisted desperately, unable to control the tsunami of emotions taking over me.

"But…you said I was annoying. You turned me down every time, even after I had risked my life to save you," he countered. "Listen, you aren't well right now…"

My heart felt like it could explode. He looked like the clueless boy I once knew, puzzled helplessly, and I felt even more painfully attracted to him.

"You…don't believe me?"

"You need to rest," he said quietly. "You've gone through a lot…we'll talk some other time."

"No way! We'll talk now!"

I was holding him by the sleeves of his shirt, pulling him closer to me, but he was resisting.

"Come on, Naruto…please?"

"Don't"

He gently grabbed my hands and pushed them away.

"Why are you doing this? I thought you liked me!" I cried.

"I did," he whispered, looking away. He had a strange guilty expression. "And Sakura…I really love Hinata."

I was unable to hold back a snort. "Oh, come on!" I cried, exasperated. "You can't possibly choose her over me."

He continued to stare at me in disbelief, annoyed and even slightly angry. "She's always accepted who I was, even when everyone was against me," he almost growled, surprising me. "She's more than I could ever ask for, the most beautiful and kind-"

"Shhh, Naruto-kun," I pleaded, placing a hand over my chest absent-mindedly. Tears fell down my cheeks. "That's enough. You're breaking my heart…"

I was on the verge of breaking down in sobs again, and I could tell he became even more uncomfortable. He stepped back from the bed, eyeing me warily and resentfully. I had never seen him look at me that way before.

He sighed. "I need to go. Feel better, Sakura-chan."

"Please don't leave me," I whispered, but he was already gone. He left the room as swiftly as only a skilled ninja could without sparing another glance at me.

I sank down on the bed.

"Naruto-kun….my love, my life…how could you do this? Why did you do this to me? I just – I need -" I whined incoherently as my eyelids slowly closed.

I didn't stop crying until, at some point that night, I finally fell asleep, drowning in tears.

The End

NaruHina forever! YEP, I HATE SAKURA. Sakura sucks. And I bet that's impossible to notice from reading this story LOL... Hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Please leave a review!