13 Reasons Why ; Sakura Haruno

Scroll Seven: Naruto, Lee, Choji and Tenten

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Sakura was crying.

No, scratch that, she was balling her eyes out.

She has lost everything. She felt so numb and broken. She was empty.

"Sakura-chan?"

The voice was familiar, too familiar.

"Sakura-chan!"

The voice, she wasn't mistaken. It was her favorite knucklehead ninja, Naruto.

"Naruto..?" She bit her lip.

"Eh?! What happened, Sakura-chan?! Who's the bastard that made you cry?!"

Sakura kept on crying.

"S-Sakura-chan! Please stop crying! I'm sorry!"

"You idiot! Why would you ask that?! You should've comforted her instead of asking stupid questions!" Sakura heard a female voice, and she was sure it was her sparring partner, Tenten.

"Itai! Gomen, Tenten-san! I was just really worried!" Naruto was known for being the Leaf's knucklehead ninja, wherein he pulls on pranks on the citizens, and of course, for his very loud voice.

"Quiet! God, please use your inner voice." Tenten scratched her head, then sat next to Sakura.

"Hey, we're here for you. Don't talk, just let your feelings out."

That only made the pinkette cry harder than before.

"See?! You made her cry even harder than before! And you call me an idiot!" Naruto accused the bun-haired brunette, pointing an accusing finger at her. This action irked the brunette and had no choice but bonk the orange-haired ninja on the head.

"Shut up, will you?!"

"Please stop fighting, my youthful friends! Or else our cherry blossom will cry harder! It is unyouthful for a beautiful lady like her to cry!"

And we all know who that was.

Boink!

"Shut up!"

"You're one to talk!"

And of course, we know who said that.

Sakura sniffed. "I-It's okay, please don't fight anymore.."

Naruto's eyes softened. He had never seen Sakura this vulnerable before. Sure, she looked fragile when Sasuke left, but this time, it seemed like her soul was taken out of her body. Her skin was very pale, and she looked like she hasn't eaten for weeks. Was she trying to kill herself?

"S-Sakura-chan! Tell us what happened! I'm worried sick about you, dattebayo!" Naruto bit his lip. It was true, it hurt him to see that the woman he fell in love with was in a state like this.

"Perhaps we should give her some space. You're all crowding her," voiced out Chouji. After his sentence, he grabbed some chips and stuffed it inside his mouth, munching like there was no tomorrow.

"Chouji-kun's right! Give her space, my youthful Naruto-kun and Tenten-chan!" Lee piped up, giving his ever youthful smile.

The two nodded, leaving a small gap for the pinkette, who then started to open her mouth to talk.

"W-Well, we all know what happened.. last week, right?"

The four sat down, nodding and letting the pink kunoichi speak.

Naruto suddenly interrupted, "I-I'm sorry I wasn't there to protect you, Sak-"

Sakura stood, her fists meeting the wooden table in front of her. The group widened their eyes.

"That's what I did not want you to do, Naruto! What do you think of me, a pathetic, weak little ninja who needs protection all the time?! No!"

Her tears started flowing.

"This was the reason I asked Hokage-sama to train me! I hated the way the villagers look at me with disgust when Karin arrived at the village. To think I can hear what they were so-called 'whispering'. They literally glared and gossiped right in front of me!"

She wiped her tears, her chest heaving up and down in a fast pace.

"Ever since.. ever since Sasuke came back with his team, I was shunned. I was shunned by all of you. Treated like trash, a toy that you all got sick and tired with and left me to suffer all alone. What did I do to you guys?! I was a good friend, a sparring partner, and hell, I know I improved! My skills had advanced when I finished training with Hokage-sama! But with one little sick lie, everything was gone. All my efforts had gone into vain, and it's all because of your little red-haired friend, Karin."

Naruto, Tenten, Chouji and Lee glanced at each other. What Sakura told them was pure truth.

"Yet what did you guys do?" Sakura had her head low, her bangs covering her eyes filled with tears. "You all left me. You all didn't care for me. Kakashi, Tsunade, Ino, and hell, even Shizune!"

"We cared for you, Sakura! We cared!" Tenten stood up, her hands encircled into fists. She did care for the pinkette, she did! Why was she the bad guy now?

"That's untrue, my cherry blossom! You are definitely mistaken, we cared and loved for you!" Lee glanced at his one and only crush. His heart ached when Sakura said they didn't care for her.

Naruto stood up slowly. "We.. cared for you, Sakura-chan. We loved you like a sister. Where did we go wrong?" His facial expression was unreadable.

*"Some of you cared, none of you cared enough."

And with a poof, she was gone.

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*"Some of you cared, none of you cared enough." is from the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, hence the book title. I do not own it.