Dear, readers: Please read, enjoy and review. Thank you! Btw, this is my first fanfic!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any characters

I stared at the couple who were walking hand in hand towards me. Or should I say, 'us'. As the woman got closer, she stretched out her hand to ruffle through the red-headed child's soft, silky hair. The child beside me could only respond with a shy giggle as he blushed at the sudden attention he was receiving. I envy him. He was greeted by an affectionate gesture whilst I was only acknowledged through a slight nod and smile. The couple looked like they were the type of people you would feel happy with as your parents.

Mum and dad… Those words felt so distant. I can't remember a time where I called someone mum or dad. It would be so nice if they would adopt me… I just realised how much I wanted a normal family.

"Sakura-chan… Are you okay?" A soft, concerned voice questioned, breaking my train of thought.

"Mm… I'm ok Gaara-chan." I replied in an equally soft voice as I realised the couple was already heading the other way.

"Are you sure?"

"Mm… Don't worry."

"Sakura-chan, did you hear what they said?" His voice became slightly louder and more excited.

"What did I miss?"

"The couple said that they might adopt either you or me and it's probably going to be the next week!"

I only stood there, dumfounded by what I just heard. Judging from the way the couple had acted… they were most likely going to choose Gaara. No… I don't want Gaara to leave me! He's the closest person I've ever had! This can't be happening! I didn't realise I had tears in my eyes until a warm droplet slowly slid down my right cheek. Now, it was Gaara's turn to stand there dumfounded.

"S-S-Sakura-chan! Why are you crying?"

"I-I'm okay… The couple looked like they liked you… I-I just really wanted that couple to adopt me… But I'm still happy for you Gaara-chan… Don't worry about me… Really, I'm fine…" I stuttered whilst vigorously wiping my tears away with the sleeve of my jumper. Though, only more tears came out at the thought that I just lied to him. I only said that I wanted the couple to adopt me so that Gaara wouldn't feel as bad for leaving me. But that didn't stop the pain from deceiving him and knowing that he would leave my life most probably forever within the next week.

"… Do you really want to have parents that much?"

"Un… I do." That wasn't exactly a lie; it's true I do want parents but not right now.

That night, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking of all the times I spent together with Gaara. Those would probably be the most blissful moments of my life. I started to recall the memory of the first time I met Gaara. I was only five and he was six.

Flashback

"How ugly!" a boy screamed as soon as he saw me.

"I know right? What an ugly forehead!" I heard other people whisper.

"Not only are you ugly but your parents are bad people too!" the same boy screamed.

I was just transferred from another orphanage because they went bankrupt and had no choice but to send all their children to other orphanages. I was sent to St Anna's orphanage. The workers here somehow got the news that I was the child of an assassin and a mafia boss. Then somehow, the children overheard the gossip and found out about my identity. It was like this wherever I went. I grew up listening to 'hey, isn't that the murder's child? I bet she's not going to be a good person when she grows up…' or 'stay away from her, her father was a part of the mafia.'

Suddenly, I was kicked at the back of my knee, forcing me to fall down into a kneeling position. I wanted to cry… Why did I do to receive this treatment? I started crying and curled myself into a ball, resting my forehead against the top of my knee. That didn't stop those children and they started throwing pebbles in my direction.

"STOP IT!" Someone screamed. They stopped throwing pebbles. I could tell that it was a boy from his voice but I was too distressed to look up.

"Are you ok?" he asked gently, placing his hands on my shoulders as a reassuring gesture, "can you stand?"

I only replied with a small nod and slowly stood up from my position as I realised that my knees were actually bleeding from the fall earlier. I limped and walked mainly by leaning onto him. After a few minutes, we reached the infirmary. However, nobody was present. So he just set me on the bed.

"The name's Gaara…" I stared at him in confusion as to why he would help me.

"… Haruno… Sakura" I replied inaudibly.

There was an awkward silence drifting in the air. Realising that this boy had just saved me but I had not thanked him properly, I wanted to start a conversation with him.

"Umm… Thank you for saving me!" I said a little too loudly, blushing beet red from my embarrassment.

"You're welcome."

There was the awkward silence again.

"Umm… sorry to be rude or anything, but why did you save me when all the other kids would bully me and stay away from me because of my parents?" I said, trying desperately hard to strike up a conversation again.

"Should I worry about your parents? I only care about the cute girl who's in front of me." I blushed again at his words.

"So can we be friends and hang out together?" I asked shyly, keeping my eyes on the dried blood smeared on my knees.

"Of course!"

That was four years ago and I can still remember it so vividly. From the first time I met him, we've been friends till now. My first real friend. I shifted my position on the bed and was leaning on my right side, hugging a pillow tightly to my chest, biting on my lower lip to prevent myself from sobbing. I held on tightly to the ring that I always wore around my neck, it was a present from Gaara. Try as I might, I couldn't prevent the hot tears from rolling down my face but instead I tried desperately to cry silently without waking anybody.

Today was the day. Gaara was going to step out of my life and enter a new door leading to an entirely different pathway from mine. I held onto Gaara's hand tightly ignoring the fact that I might be hurting him.

"Ow! Sakura-chan, my hand hurts!"

"Eh? Sorry…" I released my grip on his hand but still clung onto him by linking our arms together.

There was the couple. They stood there, ever so happy and excited about their new member of the family. I looked at Gaara, his face remained impassive and his eyes were unfocused. I reached up to touch his red, velvety hair, remembering the texture. This was it. It was going to be the last day I see him. I traced his face with my eyes, memorising every detail of his face. His pale jade green eyes, his white pale skin and his cute pink blush. I was never going to forget them now.

We came to a stop as we now stood directly in front of the couple. Sister Mary who was in charge of the orphanage came up to us.

"Mr and Mrs Evergreen, who do you, choose to adopt?"

There was a moment of tension before 'Mrs Evergreen' walked up and hugged Gaara. The decision was clear.

"Very well," Sister Mary turned to Gaara to continue, "Gaara, these are your new parents, you will be living with them from now on."

I kept my eyes on my feet, fearing that if I saw Gaara smiling, I would be hurt. Suddenly someone screamed and I looked up only to realise Mrs Evergreen screaming. Gaara was aiming a water gun at her and had gotten her wet from head to toe.

"I hate you! I will never acknowledge you as my parent!" Gaara said in a tone expressing extreme detest.

"I'm so sorry Mr and Mrs Evergreen, maybe you should reconsider adopting Gaara and take Sakura instead."

"B-b-but…" Mrs Evergreen was cut off by Mr Evergreen.

"Fine, we'll take the girl if it means less trouble" He boomed in a voice with obvious annoyance.

Mrs Evergreen lifted me by the waist and carried me further and further away from Gaara…

"NO! Gaara!" my eyes started to water and it wasn't long till I started hyperventilating from crying too much. The tears only blurred my vision and made it harder and harder for me to get a clear view of him. It was hopeless, I only clung onto my new 'mother's' shoulder for comfort and started weeping all over again.

Sakura-chan… Bye bye… I could only stare at Mrs Evergreen's back and Sakura's weeping face as they slowly disappeared from my line of sight. I didn't want to do it, but since Sakura wanted parents so badly, I couldn't just go off without her. Mrs Evergreen seemed like a nice person so I really didn't want to shoot at her with a water gun… However, I had no choice, if I didn't do that they would take me instead of Sakura. My world blurred, as tears finally formed in my eyes and leaked down my face leaving a wet trail. I guess this was it… Sakura was going to start life anew… without me… and I was going to do the same.

Congratulations! You've reached the end of my first chapter! I guess it was a bit boring, so I promise I'll try to make it more interesting in the chapters to come! =] That is if you are kind enough to continue reading.