This Girl's Name Is Sakura Haruno [Naruto Fanfic]

Chapter Thirty-One

Immediately, Temari slammed onto the brakes and pulled over. The three girls scrambled out the car and rushed over to the other side of the road. Of course, the police officers stepped in their way, blocking them. "Hey! You girls need to move back!"

"We're their friends, let us through!" Tenten screamed back into their faces, shoving and pushing her way against the officers. "They need us!"

"Miss, you can't go over there, you'll interfere with the paramedics."

"Let me see them! They're my friends! Let me go!"

"I apologize, but you can't do that." The officer shoved them roughly by the shoulder, causing them to stumbled back across the slick concrete.

Tenten continued to struggled in the policeman's grasp but Temari grabbed her and shook her by the shoulders. "Tenten," her hot breath slammed against the brunette's face in uneven pants, "snap out of it!" Tenten's thrashing wasn't helping, especially not towards Sakura. Helping her being stubborn, sure. But that wasn't helping Sakura.

"But -!"

"Shut up!" Temari's chest heaved up and down as she tried to catch her breath. Taking Tenten's chin in her hands, she made the girl lock eyes with her own. "Tenten, look at me." Once she had the girl's attention, she said, "Like the officers said, we need to move. They're trying to pull Ino and Sakura out. But you're not helping with your stubbornness. So move."

Before she could mouth her protest, Tenten was pulled away to the left, where they were allowed to stand. Through burning films of tears, the girls watched the policeman go back to their work.

The purple car was eviscerated. Car? Forget it. The piece of crap laying on the other side of the road wasn't even a car anymore; it was a metal skeleton, without seats, without passengers. The doors weren't even attached anymore, neither were the wheels. It was just a hunk of metal. A hunk of metal dripped in coats of bloody red paint, permanently stained.

"S-Sakura-chan...," Hinata sobbed into her hand as Temari allowed her to lean into the taller girl's embrace, keeping the the lavender-haired girl from falling to her knees.

The air bags were deployed with blood spattered all over it; it was the same blood that stained the grass and pavement crimson red.

Edging closer, Tenten saw a hand sticking out amongst the scraps of metal. Daringly, she took a step closer. Squinting through her tears, a glint of a diamond ring caught her eyes. Her eyes widen in realization at the familiar diamond; it was the ring that Sasuke gave to Sakura for her hand in marriage. It was Sakura's engagement ring.

She felt like she was going to faint right then and there. "Oh my god... it's Sakura's hand...," the girls whipped their heads in the direction that Tenten was pointing.

At that Hinata sobbed harder into her hand. They were left in a grieving moment of silence before Temari whipped her head up. Her jaw locked, her eyes widen a fraction. "Sasuke..." She looked at Tenten with tear-struck eyes, "Call Sasuke. And call the boys. And the families."

The smirk that was present on his face dropped. "What?"

"Sasuke...," he heard sniffling and sobbing in the background as sirens screaming overhead. "Ino and Sakura got into a car accident."

"Okay, this isn't funny, Tenten." His tone was bitter and clipped.

Suddenly, everything quieted down around him. Everyone stared at him, some with a look of confusion while some concerned.

"I'm. Not. Joking. Uchiha." Tenten bit out through a sob. "Sakura's in an accident with Ino. It was a hit and run..." She took a breath, "There's blood everywhere."

Sasuke felt his heart stop. "Is... is she alright?"

"I don't know. I really don't know. The paramedics haven't even pulled her out yet... I don't know, Sasuke..."

"Hey... Teme," Naruto looked at him. "What's wrong? Who's... who's she?"

"Where are you guys?" His heart stopped along with his ability to breath. It felt like the devil had gotten his hands around his heart and crushed it; his airways clogged.

"We're at the curb on the ramp onto the interstate. It's the one right under the bridge. It's the place they just reconstructed. "Somewhere in the background, he heard someone shout, "Oh my god, I can see white streaks of bone."

After hearing that, Sasuke didn't waste a second to dash towards the exit. He ignored the concerned shouts of his family and friends. The only thing that mattered on his mind right now was Sakura.

Sakura.

Cerulean blue eyes followed the sudden jerks of Sasuke's red graduation gown blowing out behind him like a cape as he disappeared around the corner. Not moments after Sasuke's disappearance, Naruto's ear twitched at the sound of Mr. Haruno's cellphone going off. His brows knitted together as he stared at the ground, trying to put one and one together.

"Hello, you've reached the cell of Haruno Kizashi." His deep voice rang out, cold and stone like against the brick walls of the hallway.

And what happen next was something that no one had expected to happen.

The caller's voice was sharp and clear to everyone in the room. "Mr. Haruno, your daughter and her friend, Yamanaka Ino, got into a hit and run accident on the interstate ramp. And her Glasgow coma is an eight. We're going to have to send her to the nearest hospital. If she's still non-responsive like she is now at the moment, we'll have to send her to Trauma by a chopper. With the way both girls are responding, we'll be sending them to Trauma at the Konoha General Hospital."

Then, at that moment, everything in life stopped. No one dared to take a breath, blink their eyes, or make a sound. It was like Kami had the remote in her hand and pressed pause. Waiting for a bit, she pressed play. Afterwards, she sat back and watched the chaos in front of her with interest.

"What?" Naruto's voice boomed like a clap of thunder, his voice cracking like lightning. "This...t-this has to be some sick... joke!"

The sun-kissed blond began pacing to the exit; gripping his spiky blond locks in his hands, he shook his head. "It's a joke... one that's lacking a lot of humor though," he said bitterly through his teeth. The blond lifted his head up to meet the gazes of everyone around him. Soon, he began to blabber incoherently through his angry, hot tears. "Sakura-chan and Ino just graduated... They were all laughing with smiled on their faces when they left. They even gave me a hug, and told me to meet them at Ichiraku Ramen to celebrate. They... they even promised to pay... for all 20 bowls..." Naruto didn't even stand a chance, he was a blabbering mess by the end of his ramble.

They found Sasuke bent over in the waiting room with his face in his hand, while his left gripped something red tightly. Still dressed in the red graduation gown, his cap laid beside him. It was then that they realized that the red thing in his hand wasn't his cap but Sakura's white one; both cap and gown were matted red with blood.

Off to the side, they spotted the girls. Tenten had fallen asleep on Hinata's shoulders meanwhile, Temari had her arms wrapped around the two girls, trying her best to comfort the crying Hinata.

Mikoto was the first to react as she quietly shuffled over to her youngest son. She sat down into the empty seat beside him and squeezed his shoulder. Rubbing his back soothingly, she whispered in his ear softly, "She'll be alright, honey. She's too stubborn for her own good to go, don't worry." And that was all it took for him to lean into his mother's embrace and let her hold him tightly. He swallowed his pride and stumped all over it. To be truthful, he couldn't care less about what his friends and families thought of him being babied by his own mother. Instead, he was dreading the moment the doctors would come out and tell everyone the news. And he was worried... it was fifty-fifty chance of it being good news or bad news. And it was a fifty-fifty chance of being him able to love her ever again. One mistake, she'll be gone.

He couldn't handle another mistake, not now.