Okay, so this is like totally out of my comfort zone. There are some sensitive issues involved, but I noticed Ino and Sasuke both wear armbands and well, I had this darkish thought that involves cutting. Its scary how so many people in the world go through this…and I understand it well. But I just hope that they find at least a little bit of peace soon. I was sort of if-y on whether or not to post this, but let's see what you guys think. Any who, this has three parts: Sasuke's point of view, then Ino's point of view, and finally, the omniscient point of view. Thank you all for taking the time to read this!

--Dreadful Habit--
Disclaimer: If I had a lawyer, he or she would tell me that I would never be able to own Naruto.
Summary: They both had a dreadful habit, and surprisingly, it was that dreadful habit that brought them together again. SasuIno

--Chapter One: Sasuke's Pain--

Throughout the years, Sasuke had felt pain as no one had experienced before. His hero, his own brother, had killed off the entire Uchiha clan. His aunts, his uncles, his cousins, his mother and father were all gone because of Itachi Uchiha. What killed Sasuke the most was that his older brother had decided to massacre the clan just as things were starting to look up for him.

Ever since Sasuke could remember, he had been forced to live up to his brother's reputation. Itachi could do this at this age; Itachi had done that at that age. And even though it killed him to the core to be compared to his brother, he only competed with all his might because he wanted the approval of one man and one man only: Fugaku Uchiha.

To Sasuke, it felt as if his father never paid him any heed. All he ever did was talk about his eldest son. All he cared about was Itachi and how he had gotten into ANBU Black Ops. Sasuke never heard a, "That's my boy," directed towards him. That is, there was only one time when it did happen. It was all thanks to the fact that he had mastered that fireball jutsu. Just when Fugaku had been proud of Sasuke, Itachi had to take that away. But there was another thing the boy missed more: Midori Uchiha.

Sasuke's mom had been an angel. She had also been incredibly beautiful. Her eyes shone with the kindness only a mother could provide; Sasuke always remembered how his mother use to look at him with those eyes of hers and how he felt loved. Then her slender lips would curve up into an astonishing smile. But what Sasuke missed the most were her warm hugs and her kisses.

"Mom."

Now, the thirteen-year-old boy had nothing, nothing at all. His entire family was gone. No one in Konoha really cared about him. No one really knew him, though some people thought they did. All his fan girls only liked him for his looks and abilities, but who actually liked him? None of them.

Well, there was one girl: Ino Yamanaka. She had been there for him before the massacre. She had been his best friend. The only one who had seen him as a unique individual and praised him for what he could 

do. She wasn't the utmost interested that he was part of the legendary Uchiha clan. But because of his selfishness, he had pushed her away. He couldn't bring himself to get closer to her again.

So that was why Sasuke was there tonight. As he sat on the hilltop, leaning against a tree, Sasuke absent-mindedly spun a kunai on his finger. All he wanted right now was to feel a pain other that the one he had felt every minute of everyday for the past few years—a pain he could actually control. He then halted the spinning kunai.

Sasuke looked at the starry sky with a sigh. He brought his arm closer to him and lowered his armband. His entire left arm was covered with cuts. Some were longer than others, and some of them were still pretty fresh. Sasuke closed his eyes and took a deep breath before once again opening them.

With his right hand, the avenger once again took hold of the kunai. He gripped it tightly and clenched his left fist. Once the kunai was close enough, Sasuke added a new cut to his arm. He grunted from the pain as he watched blood flow over his arm and drip onto the grass. Then slowly, he brought the kunai to his arm again and began making incision after incision. All his anger and sadness, every awful feeling his had bottled up, was being taken out on his arm.

Sasuke finally stopped cutting and dropped the kunai aside. Silent tears were pouring down Sasuke's onyx eyes. The Uchiha wiped the tears away and closed his eyes. Suddenly, his eyes shot up wide open when he heard someone approaching. He stood still as the night as he tried to hear more.

'What? It sounds like someone is crying. Almost…like a girl.'

Sasuke detached himself from the tree. He slowly stood up, not bothering to wipe away any of the blood. Most of it had dried up anyways. He checked behind the tree and there, a few feet away, was a crying girl. Sasuke approached closer to the girl and noticed her bleeding arm. He landed in front of her and called out her name. She looked up and said, "Sasuke?"