DollFace

Chapter Three

Mother Knows Best

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"And what did you do wrong Sakura?" Mebuki questioned the petite girl before her.

Sakura sat in a wooden hair, her head hung low; pastel locks fell out of the bun. Long, red markings adorned her porcelain skin like jewellery.

It hurts. It hurts so much...

"Never come home late again." Her voice sounded hoarse, dead.

"And?" Her mother inquired again.

"No more messing around with boys."

Mebuki clapped and walked over to her. She ruffled her hair, the whip long forgotten on the floor.

"Good girl!"

And Sakura could only watch as she slammed the door shut and locked it from the outside.

The pinkette groggily got up, despite her legs trembling. A searing pain shot through her; she winced. She slowly but steadily made it towards her bed and collapsed.

Curling herself into a ball, tears leaked from her eyes, damping the sheets.

All you ever do is cry, love. No one's gonna hear your broken voice.

"I-I don't want to talk t-to you n-now...." She spoke, her voice hoarse and trembling. Weirdly, no other taunt or comment echoed in her mind; she was thankful for that. The night was young, and she could hear her mother screaming on the other side of the house.

Her hand limply went towards the picture frame of the Team Seven. Her fingers tracing over the two faces. Her mother's cries of agony never seemed to stop as she clutched the picture and fell asleep.

They can't save you dear.~

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Naruto and Sasuke arrived early at the training grounds. Surprisingly, there was no Sakura.

Sasuke was a little bit suspicious.
Shouldn't she be here already?

But as usual, he didn't voice his concern.

"Sakura chan isn't here yet!"
Even the dobe noticed.

And as if on cue, the missing teammate arrived, slightly limping to Sasuke's observation.

"Hey guys!" She smiled brightly and waved at them.

"Sasuke-kun I see you're doing well!" I should be asking you.

He turned away.

○●○●

Time flew by.

Chunin exams came around. Oruchimaru snuck in. Sasuke got the curse mark and left for revenge; Naruto left to get stronger.

"Thank you Sakura."
No. No no No No Please!

"Don't worry Sakura-chan! I'll bring him back for you!" NO! PLEASE DON'T GO!

Kakashi started taking back ANBU missions.

And Sakura was left all alone. She could hear the voice laughing and saying how right it was.

No...

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On the way home Sakura came across an old "friend."

"Shinobi get scars. You'll always be ugly."

"They left you because you were weak."

And the one that made her snap.

"Because you were ugly."

We will see.

○●○●

The next day civilians and shinobi alike gathered at the gates. Gasps and murmurs were heard as eyes widened in horror.

Two ninjas found dead and the bruised and tattered body of a girl hung from the arc. Stab wounds and the word carved on to her stomach.

UGLY

The parents cried bitterly.

"MY BABY! THEY KILLED MY BABY!" The mother wailed in the arms of her husband.

"Don't worry honey, whoever did this will pay." He murmured.

Kakashi noticed something, a note was stuck in her forehead. Written in the victim's blood.

Isn't she pretty now?

Ino couldn't believe what she was seeing. She hoped it was only a dream.

Looking around she saw the all too familiar pink hair, but that wasn't the only thing.

She was smiling.
Why?

Ino's interest was peeked.

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Amongst the crowd of people, Shikamaru looked at the bodies.
They looked horrible. It looked like the killer used only a kunai for this.

They must be skilled then.

His eyes traveled through the crowd and he saw Ino. She was staring at something, more like someone. He followed her eyes to see Sakura, grinning from ear to ear like a Cheshire cat.

For the first time in a long while, Shikamaru Nara was confused.

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"Every time I want to scream. I always end up smiling."
-Anonymous

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To be continued~