Ten Minutes (Naruto fanfiction) EDITING--DO NOT READ!!

Chapter Seventeen - The Plate

"It's almost time!" A cute little girl's voice rang out, the words catching in her throat like shards of glass. Her voice was weighed down with despairir and she ran about the room, desperately searching for that one saving thing.

"I'll bring them the prettiest plate we have!" she exclaimed, lifting a beautifully painted porcelain platter in her hands. She stumbled under it's weight. "I-it's heavy!" She groaned, trying to stumble her way towards the doorway.

Slip! Crash! "AAH!" Shattered pieces of china flew everywhere. Clock struck First Minute. Ti-tlick! BANG! Blood.

And oh, so much blood!

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The sound of shattering glass snapped Tenashiuta out of her slumber. She startled up, her head jerking and her mouth letting a small gasp.

"Don't go celebrating yet!" Noises and colors blared in her face, pressing down on her. As her vision cleared, she saw Anko standing in front of them all. She rapidly tried to calm her beating heart.

Her fingers clawed at her shirt as her breaths tore at her throat like jagged shards of broken glass. Her eyes glowed a luminescent crimson. Her beauty and evanescence clashed with the unearthy light they emitted.

She quickly reached down to her arm and scratched herself with her fingernail, drawing blood. As a drop of blood leaked from the cut, her eyes returned to normal. She clamped them shut tightly, gasping for air.

She felt a frigid hand clasping her sweaty skin and opened one eye to see Kazuma's worried face in front of her own. "Which?" he asked the second she realized his presence, and she saw Kaeda and Yumi standing a length away, looking equally worried.

"First." she breathed, closing my eye again. "It was first." She slowly was able to calm herself into a state where she was able to shakily rise to her feet. He grabbed her arm and steadied her, earning an "Arigatou," and a grim nod of appreciation.

He looked into her eyes, searching for something that he hoped against hope wasn't there. After a few seconds of searching, he confirmed it wasn't there with a sigh of releif.

"Hey! Ashi-chan!" Naruto yelled at her, cupping both hands around his mouth to be louder. "Are you coming?" She looked up at him and the rest of Team 7, and even he saw the sadness resting in those golden glints of hers. She gave them a sad smile and a nod, then thanked Kazuma again before walking over to join them.

The sadness her being seemed to radiate worried them all. What had happened to the happy Ashi they had just began to know? Even the calm, emotionless Ashi they knew was better than this.

Sakura really admired and looked up to Ashi. Though she would never admit it, she seemed so beautiful without even trying. Ashi was kind enough to befriend Naruto, who she could see everyone obviously hated. She also offered her help on getting the bells, even though she could get the bells by herself.

Seeing this dark side of her made Sakura worry. Ashi-chan was her friend, and she wanted her to be happy. Even if Sasuke had chosen Ashi over her, she would still think of her as a best friend. Even if Ashi didn't let people close, there seemed to be something that was bothering her.

It didn't matter, Sakura decided, if she let people close or not. She must have a good reason, and she was willing to try and find out the reason.

Thinking of all this, Sakura could recall a Flashback from not to long ago, at Tazuna's house. Without getting into specifics, Sakura was a bit depressed. Ashi had cheered her up and revealed that she would have given Sakura her bell if only Sakura couldn't get a bell.