* keeping me ( DOWN )

[. SAKURA )]

" You believed ,

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-- Twenty minutes ago, Sakura had laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling with nothing to do. Did people normally do this on weekends? Sit around all day and do absolutely nothing? It was an utterly sad way to spend her weekend. Most people were probably off doing something fun like...like skating! Or bowling! Whatever, studying was more important than having fun, she consoled herself -- not at all believing it. Sitting up straight, Sakura looked outside of her window, wondering what was going on outside. Her mouth made an 'o' shape, as she stepped closer to her window. The sun was setting beautifully. White clouds blended in with the sky that had turned into a dark orange. A tree branch gently rustled in the gentle breeze. Suddenly, Sakura felt compelled to open her window and just feel the wind. It wasn't a surprise that she had actually done what she had wanted to do. Her eyes fluttered closed, a small smile appearing on her face.

-- Oooh! Today would have been such a good day to go out! Too bad it seemed as if it were about to end. Shaking away the thoughts, Sakura remembered that she hadn't even been planning to go out that day. Perhaps she was in need of a change of plans. Her mother had said that she could go out if she wished to, but only if she came back home at a reasonable hour. Once, one of her neighbors had been informed of what her mother was letting her do. The old woman had looked absolutely scandalized for one reason or another. Sakura hadn't dignified such a response with a reply. Really, what was that lady's problem? She shot Sakura troubled glances whenever she left the household. It was so irksome! Even her mother had agreed on how annoying it was. It wasn't as if it were any of their business. Bah, nosy neighbors.

-- Maybe she could go outside. For at least a little bit. She needed some air -- some time outside. With that decided, Sakura slipped into a jacket that had been lying on the floor. It was relatively thin, but she doubted that it would be terribly cold outside. With that done, Sakura raced outside, feeling somewhat, er, excited about being outside. Don't ask why she was excited, she just was. Now that she was out and about, Sakura now had to find out where the Hell she intended to go. It wasn't as if she had had a set destination or something. Maybe she could go to Ichiraku? Nah, she didn't feel like eating ramen. Besides, ramen was just so unhealthy. Sakura had no idea how Naruto could stand eating the food. So, maybe not Ichiraku.

-- But where then? Her mind went blank when it came to that point. Perhaps she could go to the book store that had recently opened. Her eyes brightened at the idea. That's it! She would go to that book store and check it out. It sounded like a nice plan to Sakura. The only problem with it was how she was going to get there. Well the obvious choice was walking. It wasn't as if she could drive yet and besides, the book store wasn't too far from Sakura's home. In fact, not too many things were far from her home -- so it was easy for her to walk to and from each place. However, the book store was a little farther then most places, so it would take a little while for her to get there. Furrowing her eyebrows, Sakura thought about using the short cut she had found not too long ago. Sakura had only ever used it during the day time, and the day was already nearing evening. The young girl would have to go throw an alley -- which wasn't all that creepy if the sun was out.

-- Oh well, the alley wouldn't take long to get through. Just turn two or three corners and head right on straight. Nothing creepy about that. There wouldn't be enough time for something bad to happen to her, if she went through the alley way. Sakura was positively sure of it. Just in case though, Sakura kept her cellphone in her hand, ready to flip open and dial nine-one-one if she needed to. Satisfied with her solutions, Sakura took her time walking toward her short cut. Now before you comment on how stupid, Sakura's decision was (after all, alley ways are really, really dangerous and creepy -- especially during the dark), you have to remember; another person’s temptation is easier to resist than your own.

-- Seeing that the alley way was coming into his line of vision, Sakura tightened her hold on her cellphone, knowing she was just being paranoid again. Cautious. (Synonyms.) Sure, she had every reason to be, but did she really believe that something could happen in that alley way? It wouldn't take long to go through it. Probably five minutes tops, she estimated. There was nothing to be afraid of. So why did she feel so frightened? There was no reason to be. Frightened, that is. So what if alley ways were usually dirty and disgusting, filled with things you couldn't imagine? So what? Sakura could deal with it. They were just mere nuisances, nothing she couldn't handle. Satisfied, Sakura walked forward confidently.

-- Sakura shivered, the wind blowing a little harsher than it had before. Maybe she should go back and get a thicker coat. It seemed as if it were going to get colder during the night. It would be wise to get a thicker coat since, she thought. So, Sakura half turned around, but stop in mid-step. Should she really go back home? It would be troublesome to walk back and forth, which would be wasting her precious time. Changing her mind, Sakura found it easier for herself to just deal with the cold temperature and continue onto the book store. And so Sakura continued walking, but this time there was confidence in her step. There was only hesitance and perhaps even anxiousness. She shouldn't be taking her time, she just run there. The problem with that, was her hurt foot. The rosette-haired girl had twisted it during tennis practice, much to her chagrin. It was easy to see that her foot was hurt, since she was limping ever so slightly.

-- Suddenly, a noise alerted Sakura to another's presence in the alley way. Yelping, Sakura stumbled backward, her back hitting a wall. In front of her lied a trash can that had tumbled over and beside that trashcan was a cat. Visibly relaxing, Sakura glared at the animal, as if blaming it for scaring her. Damn cat. The young girl cracked a smile, feeling foolish. How could she have been scared of some trash can a cat had knocked over? I mean really. With new found confidence, Sakura walked forward feeling both stupid and...

-- ...paranoid.

, but sometimes
believing isn't enough ."

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tagged _ n/a IT'S OPEN :D
listening to _ gravity by sara bareilles
word count _ 1181.
notes _ bah. sakura's creeped out x0 lawl, i could have written more -- but i didn't want anyone going "D: -explodey-" <3 i hope it's enough for any of you all to reply tooooo~!
muse _ relatively high ^o^

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[• naruto [ uzumaki ]]

• uzumaki naruto •
"hiding in the darkness.
you try to find the answer.
but too late it slipped away"

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it hadn't been long after school when the blond had started lurking the streets. in fact he began his lurking right after work, a simple paper-route through the town. he'd finished that at around four leaving him with hours to kill. kakashi and iruka never set times for him to be home for, though iruka did fret to no ends. but naruto kept reassuring the brunet that he could look after himself now. he wouldn't let that sort of thing happen to himself ever again. he was older now. older and phsyically stronger. but now his mind had been scarred for life causing his psychological state to decay, and he knew it.

but of course. he was uzumaki naruto, so everything was always alright. always always. well apart from this past week. he'd been having more and more flashbacks. it was starting to scare him. he'd hoped his sanity would last longer. he shook his head before running his hands tiredly through his mass of blond spikes. always hyper naruto was. so it was hard to believe how many troubled nights the other had. for the past week he'd been woken constantly by the same couple of nightmares. most revolving around that day. it was hard to believe that so little time had passed since then.

naruto sighed to himself as he glanced up at the sky. the sun was setting. he guessed he should start heading home soon to see if he could get a decent nights sleep tonight. he doubted it but it was worth a try. he kept walking only to stop as he came to the new bookstore. he paused for a second thinking of going in to see if sakura was there. deciding against it he made his way into an alley aiming to just sit there until the sun had set before going on the final stretch for home.

walking into the alleyway he leant against one of the walls in between two large dustbins. He stood with his arms folded over his chest for warmth. he wished he'd taken his jacket to school with him this morning. if he had he wouldn't be so cold now. he sighed before closing his eyes as he tried to think of something distracting so he didn't just drift back into the darkness that took over his sleeping state. as depressing as it sounded thats what naruto's dreams felt like. his own private hell.

• his touch •
the hand of the man that held him slipped down into forbidden areas. naruto trembled and whimpered as he tried to tug the mans hand away. he cried out as he felt the sharp bite on his ear. intantly he retracted his hands his eyes tight closed. he didn't want to see what the other was doing to him. he could feel it and that was enough. more than enough for his small eight year old self.

the man stood and carried him out of the park. easing open an eye naruto watched as he was carried into the shade of the nearby trees before being sat against one. he scrambled to escape before giving a slight cry as he felt his head slammed against the bark of the tree. tears weld up in his eyes before beginning to fall. he was terrified. "l-let me go." he heaard himself whisper and plead the man. however his captor ignored his pleas and began removing naruto's pants and boxers.

he could feel his body trembling at the others touches. he closed his eyes tight trying to block out everything. though no matter how much he tried he could still hear the other moving above him. still feel him touching his bare flesh. what hit naruto last of all was the faint scent of alcohol upon the man. after smelling it he knew the man wouldn't just toy with him then leave. he knew he was in for a lot of trouble.
• so cold •

naruto pressed his palm against his eyes. his stomach churned from the flashback. he felt like he was going to hurl. that bastard had ruined his whole life. and to make matters worse for himself naruto swore never to tell anyone else about it. his guardians knew and that was it. naruto couldn't imagine what would happen to his 'reputation' if someone else found out. what was then was then naruto constantly reminded himself. though the flashbacks never did help. he sighed before letting his mind wonder.

that man. he'd taken everything from him. not just once but three times over. naruto didn't tell iruka about the first or third times. he didn't want him telling the police. no he wasn't proud of what had happened, nor was he defending the man. he, at that age and time, just felt like he couldn't handle police and court rooms. he was still young. he had to do this on his own. so far naruto believed he'd achieved that. yet with the recent events naruto wasn't so sure. the flashbacks were coming too often for him to be making progress. he groaned before kicking one of the trash cans.

it was naruto who had startled the cat causing it to knock over the trash can he'd just kicked and scare sakura. he blinked and looked up as he saw the other move. he squinted before smiling softly as he saw sakura. it was good to see her though right now he didn't feel his usual hyper self and so tried to evade her by sticking to the wall as he moved passed her. he chose to ignore the cat as it posed no threat to him. sakura however did so naruto was tensed. if the bubble-gum haired girl saw his depressed and troubled face she'd question him. naruto didn't even have it in him to pull off his usual smile yet alone think up an excuse.

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.words. 975!
.tagged. sakura or open^^
.music....various... mostly dj boonie and things
.notes. that was longer than i expected o-o i think i got carried away with it all XD
.muse. its alive but hoping from hyper to random to depressed so....

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