Konnichiwa, minna! I am back! And with a new story! What?! Well, yes, yes I am. Welcome to Torn, a Sasusaku fanfiction. To be honest I've been wanting to write this for a while, but I just didn't actually do it until now. I also have the second chapter of this finished, but I want to see if people like this first or not. So if you guys want the continuation of this story you'd better leave me your opinion, either a vote or a comment would be much appreciated. So here is chapter 1 of Torn!

          Ever since Sakura could remember, she was different. It wasn't so much her bright pink hair that was the color of her namesake or the bright, jade green orbs she possessed, although those certainly played a part in it, as it was where she came from that made her stand out from everyone else in her village. She came from the forest, and anything or anyone who came out of the forest was considered dangerous and put under suspicion. Sakura came from the forest, and so she was an outcast. To top that and her vividly colored features, Sakura was an orphan, so no one quite knew what to do with her.

          She had spent her early years in the village orphanage. She had constantly been bullied and alienated because of her queer looks by the other children: her hair was pulled, rocks were thrown at her, she was tied to trees, and most of their games revolved around making her the object of ridicule. She couldn't blame them really, even she herself thought she was strange with her bright colors in contrast to the dull browns and blacks and grays observed in her village. The nuns who ran the orphanage weren't much better than the children, but their reason for treating her differently lied in their knowledge of where she came from.

          When Sakura was only an infant, she had been found in the forest a couple rows of trees in, which was as far as any of the villagers dared go to gather wood, with no trace of her parents or anyone who might have put her there. Thankfully, no matter where she came from, it was still considered terrible to leave a baby out to die, so she was taken in, and Sakura was grateful that she had been taken in despite her strangeness.

          Sakura tried to live her best, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible and tried to be normal by especially staying as far away from the forest as possible, but apparently it was impossible for her to be normal because no matter how hard she tried to ignore the forest, she kept going back to it. She always felt as if the forest was calling her, that she had left something very important there, and contrary to the dangerous and scared feeling the forest appeared to give off to the villagers, Sakura felt no such feeling and instead found that the forest gave off an air of security and light. Thus, no matter how hard she tried to hate the forest and stay away from it, she could not, and this of course did not help the ostracizing she went through at the orphanage. Her suffering there was only temporary, however, as it all ended the day the new village doctor came to town.

          One day, a mysterious traveler had arrived in the village and settled herself in as the new village doctor. Everybody was wary of her of course, but because she was the best doctor they had ever had and were in need of her, they let her stay. The doctor's name was Shizune and though she had dark hair and eyes like the rest of the villagers, there was still something about her that made her slightly different from the rest of them, but no one could quite put their finger on what it was.

          For whatever reason, Shizune passed by the orphanage one day and seemed to take a particular interest in Sakura as soon as she saw her. Sakura had been sitting under her favorite tree in the orphanage's backyard, trying to hide from the other kids. She remembered that day clearly. As she had been hiding, a voice had suddenly greeted her warmly, "Why, hello there. Who are you?"

          Sakura had jumped at the sudden sound--she had always been skittish-- and whirled around. The lady above her seemed so beautiful to Sakura in that moment--even though Shizune wasn't especially beautiful-- because of the wide smile on her face, the smile that was directed at her.

          Sakura could only stare in awe for a couple moments before she realized she was being asked a question, and timidly answered, "S-Sakura."

          "Sakura, huh? Why, doesn't that name suit you perfectly!" Shizune said warmly.

          "Yeah, because of my weirdly colored hair, right?" Sakura said dejectedly, fingering a lock of her hair.

           Shizune looked at her sadly before asking, "Sakura, have you ever seen a sakura tree in bloom?"

          Sakura raised her head and shook it, her curiosity piqued.

          "Well, that's to be expected; nothing blooms much around here. Sakura trees are a wondrous sight to see when in bloom! They're soft and pink, just like your hair, and when the wind blows even slightly, the petals scatter in a soft, pink shower! It's one of the most beautiful phenomena to be observed in this world!"

          Shizune's description had been so captivating that Sakura's jade eyes had glowed with wonder, imagining the beautiful blossoms scattering.

          "Why don't you and I go see it one day, hm?" Shizune said kindly.

          "Really?" Sakura asked excitedly.

          "Of course!" Shizune said. "It's a promise! But first, there's something we have to do."

          "What's that?" Sakura asked, eyes gleaming as she grew even more curious.

          "We have to make preparations for you to come live with me," Shizune said excitedly.

         "Eh? Really? You're gonna adopt me?" asked an unbelieving Sakura.

         "Mhm, if that's okay with you."

         "Of course it is!" Sakura said, bouncing up and down in excitement. That had been the happiest moment in her entire life.

          "But are you sure you want a weirdo like me?" she said, deflating suddenly. "They'll probably talk about you a lot..."

          "I've decided to take you and I'm taking all of you, including all your weirdness," Shizune said, bopping Sakura's nose with her finger.

          Sakura giggled slightly and Shizune held out her big hand for Sakura to take and Sakura gladly obliged.

         After that, Sakura spent the next 11 years living with Shizune and, since Shizune was the village doctor, was also her apprentice.

          Sakura had grown up quite well at the ripe age of 17: her sakura blossom hair had grown to her mid back, though she always kept it in a bun, she had curves in all the right places, and although she was lacking in the breast department she had a nice behind according to Shizune. As Sakura had predicted, Shizune had faced some of the taunting and had been looked down upon when she took in Sakura, but she always greeted it with a smile and never let Sakura feel like she was a nuisance or a burden. In return Sakura had always studied hard and worked to her best potential, and had somehow gotten a better reputation with some of the more open-minded villagers for her services. Sakura had also accepted herself more and loved herself more as a result of living with Shizune, and no longer denied the pull she felt towards the forest. She went in almost every day, careful to avoid as many villagers and just walked alone in the forest. She felt at peace and liberated when she was there, the breath of fresh air welcomed in her suffocating life.

          And of course, she was in the forest at this very moment. She had told Shizune that morning that she was going to pick some medicinal herbs, as she always did, but Sakura always had a sneaking suspicion that Shizune always knew where she was actually going. That day, she was going a bit deeper than she normally did, entranced by how lush green and colorful everything was in comparison to the permanent mucky brown her village seemed to be where nothing very interesting grew except for the shriveled up crops the farmers grew. Sakura twirled around, arms outstretched, eyes closed as she took a deep breath in.

          She walked a little further in, picking some herbs here and there because she did have to turn up with something after all, and picked a couple flowers to take back to Shizune. She spotted a rare patch of sun breaking through the thick foliage of the forest a bit ahead of her and walked towards it. There, as if trying to devour as much sunlight as possible, were a bunch of flowers of all different kinds packed close to each other with barely any space in between. She grinned at all the colors she couldn't see back at her village, and started picking the ones she found most beautiful and putting them to one side in the basket she was carrying. The basket itself was a simple woven basket and it looked small, but Sakura could fit all her necessities in it. She always carried emergency medical supplies with her, a couple snacks, and a notebook for sketching or making notes on a particular type of plant, and even then there was still space to put things.

         Sakura had just spotted a peculiar flower that caught her eye. The flower was tall but it seemed to come just a ways short of the other flowers, apparently satisfied with any stray rays of sunshine that the other flowers didn't absorb. Its stem was green and curly, and when Sakura looked closely, had small, darker green thorns along it. What struck Sakura the most about it, however, was the color of the petals: they were a dark gray, almost black, whose color faded out at the pointed tips of the petals. It was beautiful in a way she couldn't describe.

          In a flash, Sakura found herself grabbing her notebook and a pencil and flipping it to a blank page. She immediately started sketching the flower. She found it mysterious for some reason, and as she was sketching wondered why it wasn't the first to soak up the sun's rays; its stem was curly so Sakura knew if it uncurled it would certainly tower above the other flowers, and yet it didn't. It was as if it were hiding behind the other flowers, waiting for someone who was willing to dig deeper and find it, and yet it was afraid to be touched and had grown thorns to protect itself. Sakura found it a little tragic actually; someone who wanted to be loved yet was afraid of being loved at the same time.

           She had finished the sketch and held the notebook up to examine it. It looked exactly like it. It was then that Sakura realized that she didn't know the name of the plant; she had never come across it before, even in her studies. Sakura thought about it for a second before grabbing her pencil once more and writing a word in her loopy cursive script. She then read it aloud to herself, "Wahhid". It meant lonely in some lost language she had studied.

         Sakura got up and looked at the flower one last time, debating whether to pick it, but decided against it. She didn't know if there were any other of its kind and she didn't want to risk putting it to extinction if she selfishly picked it. Just as she was about to turn back she heard a sound that shook the forest. Birds started chirping furiously and flying from the trees and small animals scurried about before the sound sounded again, closer. It sounded like a mangled animal cry, and Sakura had to cover her ears with her hands or else she felt that her eardrums might explode. She uncovered them momentarily and heard the cry once again. She was about to clamp her hands over her ears again before she noticed a change in the cry; although it sounded animalistic, she started to hear human cries as well, as if both of them were melding together, one and the same, before it turned only human and then quieted.

          Sakura's curiosity battled her fear for a few fleeting minutes before curiosity won, as usual, and Sakura started heading towards where she had last heard the cry. Her footsteps were careful and quiet, her basket was held close to her so as to avoid bumping into anything, and she breathed as quietly as possible trying to erase her presence completely.

         As she kept going, a sense of apprehension took root in her chest and she knew she was getting closer. Her heart started beating a mile a minute and she stopped, hand clutching the area over her heart.

          Calm down, she thought to herself, Erase yourself. You are invisible, invisible, invisible, invisible. She repeated the same phrase to herself over and over again like a mantra until her breathing slowed and her heart beat seemed to disappear. She released a long breath before completely relaxing her body. Normally, even if a person doesn't know that they are being watched or followed, they can still sense some sort of presence, but Sakura, in the heat of the moment, had just taught herself how to conceal her presence, so that person wouldn't be able to sense anything; it was as if she wasn't even there.

          Sakura continued at a faster pace, not making a sound. She had just passed a big oak tree when she saw a flash of yellow and turned back, pressing her back into the tree. She slowly inched forwards until her head was peeking out just enough that she could see what was in front of her. There were a bunch of broken trees leaving a trail that seemed to end just on the other side of the tree she was hiding behind, but the tree trunk still blocked whatever had made that trail from view. Sakura took a deep, calming breath before daring to peek her head out further. What she saw amazed and terrified her at the same time.

          The first thing she saw was a head of blond hair and a tan masculine body; the bold colors immediately striking her as different from everyone back home. The second thing she saw was that half of his body seemed to be covered in a strange orange-red substance and he had three tails of that same substance sprouting from his tailbone area. The third thing she saw was the blood; there was a big puddle of blood pooling beneath him. He was groaning slightly as he pushed himself hard enough so that he was now laying on his back, and Sakura saw the numerous wounds that littered his body, but the biggest one was seemingly a hole in his gut, and honestly, Sakura had no idea how he was even still alive at that point. The strange substance seemed to be receding and then disappeared altogether, although Sakura had no idea where it disappeared to exactly, and Sakura noticed that the air suddenly wasn't as heavy anymore, as if a powerful aura or strength had just disappeared.

          The creature... person... she didn't really know what to call him, groaned again and tried to move, but upon doing so let out another cry that this time sounded fully human. He was bleeding immensely and again Sakura had no idea how he was alive, but assumed it probably had something to do with the substance she saw earlier. Sakura couldn't make out his facial features exactly from her position but was sure that they were contorted in pain. Every fiber of her being told her to go help him; she was a doctor for Pete's sake! But she didn't know whether the thing would harm her or not, seeing as she was pretty sure he wasn't human! Could he be one of the "dangers of the forest" the villagers were always on about? But if so, how come she had never seen him or anyone else like him in all the years she had been going to the forest? If there really were creatures like this dwelling in the forest, and she herself came from the forest, did that mean that there was a possibility Sakura wasn't human?

          Another anguished cry ripped her from frenzied thoughts and she pushed those questions to the back of her mind and just followed her instincts, marching out from behind the tree, and letting her presence be known again. As soon as she did, the creature stilled and his head snapped to her, revealing a pair of intense cerulean blue eyes. Sakura took the small moment of shock of the creature to take in his features in detail. He had sun kissed blond hair that was pulled back by some type of headband with a strange symbol etched into the metal part and tan skin. He had blue eyes and, for some reason, strange whisker marks on his cheeks. He had a necklace dangling from his neck that was some sort of blue crystal on a black cord, and was obviously well toned which was revealed by his lack of a shirt. Thankfully he had on bottoms that consisted of black and orange pants, and black, open shoes. All in all, Sakura found him wonderful: he was so colorful! But there was something else about him; for some reason he radiated familiarity.

          The creature suddenly got over his initial shock and tried to get up, but his face contorted painfully, and Sakura saw him bite his tongue to keep from screaming.

          "Hey! Hey! Stop moving! You're going to open your wound even more like that!" Sakura scolded as she rushed over to his side without hesitation.

          He stopped and seemed to observe her. Sakura didn't even know if he understood what she was saying, but she kept going anyway, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to help you, so if you stop moving so much I can bandage you up. How about it?"

          As she talked Sakura pulled out bandages, dried herbs, and anything she thought she would need to help her. She looked back at him to see him observing her with his oh so blue eyes, and she couldn't help but be struck with a wave of nostalgia. He seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place her finger on why. Her eyebrows furrowed as she grabbed a cloth and pressed it to the gaping hole in his gut making him hiss.

          "Sorry, but I have to stop the bleeding. Hold that there, will you?" she asked as she took his hand and placed it on the cloth. Seeming to understand what she wanted, he complied.

         Sakura again looked at his face, trying to figure out why he seemed familiar. She was absolutely sure she had never met someone with colors as bright as his and especially someone who was obviously not human, so why did she feel like she had met him before?

          Suddenly the creatures blue eyes widened as if in recognition before a cheeky grin erupted on his face and he pulled her into a crushing hug and said in warm voice, "Sakura-chan! It's you!"

          As soon as he said her name with the familiar suffix, a name came to her lips, "Naruto..."

         Just then, a flurry of memories went through her head of a small version of her with a small blonde haired, blue eyed, whisker faced boy.

          Four-year-old Sakura had run into the forest after finally being able to get away from the other children of the orphanage, and was sitting against a tree, crying. She hadn't even known where she was going, and yet she had found her way to the forest because no matter what she tried to make herself feel about it, it was still the place she felt the safest.

          "Why are you crying?" a voice asked.

          Sakura jumped up and looked around wildly for the source of the voice before her jade eyes met with a pair of blue ones right in front of her. Sakura jumped again and tripped backwards, landing on her bum. There was a blond haired boy dangling upside down in front of her from a tree branch, whisker marks on his face. He was looking at her curiously as Sakura looked back at him in awe, his blond hair a surprising contrast to the gloomy colors of her village.

          "Why are you crying?" he repeated.

          Sakura started crying again as she buried her head in her arms.

          She heard a thump as the blond haired boy landed beside her and warm hands grabbed her own and lifted them from her face.

          "Will you please tell me why you're crying? I don't like it."

          "The other kids were laughing at me and pulling my hair," Sakura sniffed.

          "Why?"

          "They say I'm a freak," She said sadly. "And they're right."

          "People call me a freak too," he said unexpectedly.

          Sakura's head snapped up to him.

         "Really?" she breathed. "Why?"

         "There aren't a lot of people like me left," he said vaguely. "But that doesn't make me a freak. Just because there aren't a lot of people like me left doesn't make me a freak, so I just ignore them. You should do the same."

          "I don't think you're a freak," Sakura said.

          He grinned at her and said happily, "Well I don't think you're a freak either, dattebayo."

          Sakura smiled in return, and the boy held his hand out to her to take. She wiped her tears away and grabbed it as he pulled her up.

          "What's your name?" He asked.

          "Sakura," she said shyly. "And you?"

          "Naruto!" He replied. "We're gonna the best of friends, Sakura-chan! I just know it!"

          "F-Friends?" Sakura stuttered, surprised he wanted to be friends with her. "I've never had any friends."

          "Well, you have one now, and we're even better than friends, we're best friends!"

          "Best friends?" Sakura echoed.

         "The very best, dattebayo!"

          Sakura mimicked Naruto's grin and said, "Ok."

          Naruto laughed and started pulling her along with him.

          "Come on, let's go play!"

          After that, Naruto and Sakura would play together every day, and Sakura was always happy and laughing with him. This lasted for a couple months before Naruto had announced to her one day that he had to go back home. Sakura had begged him to stay a bit longer, but he couldn't stay and had promised her that he would come back one day and that they'd always be best friends.

          Everything came rushing back to her, all the happy memories she had somehow forgotten, and Sakura's first coherent thought was, How could I forget about my best and only friend?

          "Naruto, Naruto, Naruto, Naruto!" she repeated over and over, tears spilling from her eyes.

          "Sorry I took so long to come back, Sakura-chan," Naruto said as he released her.

          Sakura sniffled and shook her head.

          "Don't apologize, baka. I'm just glad you to see you," she said.

          "Me too, dattebayo," he grinned again.

          Sakura suddenly remembered Naruto's current state and gasped.

          "Oh my Kami-sama, how did this happen?" she asked, gesturing to Naruto's wounds.

          "It's a long story," Naruto said, wincing as he too seemed to suddenly remember his predicament.

          Sakura immediately went to work on him and noticed that the wound hadn't stopped bleeding.

          "That's odd," she remarked. "It should've stopped bleeding by now."

         "I know, it should have completely healed by now, actually," Naruto said.

         "Well, not completely healed but," Sakura started.

         "No, no, completely healed. I have regenerative healing," he said.

         "What?" Sakura asked, dumbfounded. "Wait, does this have to do with that weird orange-red stuff I saw covering your body earlier?"

         Naruto gave her a strange look before seeming to understand.

         "Oh, yeah I guess so. I would explain everything to you right now, but I'm kind of in pain," he said, trying to laugh it off. "The point is, my healing is currently stunted."

          "Right!" Sakura said and started working again.

          She started building a fire next to them. Once the fire was going well and she didn't have to blow on it anymore, Sakura grabbed a small metal rod and a couple needles, and started sterilizing them in the fire. Once she was done, she set them aside, grabbed a rag, and wet it. She rolled it and gave it to Naruto. He gave her a confused look.

          "Put this in your mouth. Trust me," she said.

          He still looked confused but complied. She delicately picked up the hot metal rod and turned to him.

          "Sorry, but this is gonna hurt. A lot."

          Naruto had no time to question as Sakura put the burning metal rod against his wound, and Naruto let out a muffled, earsplitting scream.

Hope you guys liked this chapter! I don't know, I really liked the way I wrote this chapter, but anyway, now it's up to you guys whether the continuation is posted or not so please vote, comment, or even pm me. Again, hate is not tolerated but constructive criticism is much appreciated. Arigatou minna to ja ne!