Here it came again. The pain, the blood, it was nothing new. Maybe he had just gotten used to this, but in the back of his mind he knew that this wasn't something to get used to. It wasn't something that was even supposed to happen. However, that didn't matter now, it was happening and he couldn't do anything to stop it. So, an eight year old Sasuke tensed up and waited for the next hit.

It came on his cheek this time. This wasn't some little slap, he was punched and he felt his body fall through the air for a minute then land hard on the ground against his back. He'd have a bruise there for sure. Sasuke closed one eye against the pain that made his face feel swollen and the rib that just felt like it cracked. The other eye was focused on his father.

And his father was on him again the second he landed. This time it was a kick to said pained rib and this time he felt like it really did cracked. His chest heaved with the effort of coughing up blood that was stuck in his stomach. Sasuke was nauseated by the metallic and iron taste of his own blood.

"Get up," his father slurred. The eight year old glared at him but it just earned him another kick to the hip. A non-gentle kick to the hip. But Sasuke got up, so his drunk father didn't have a reason to hit him any harder.

Slowly, Sasuke got to his feet with the help of the wall behind him. Looking up at his father, he let his hate show but he was back on the ground with a back hand to his other cheek. Sasuke then got back up off the floor, not wanting to feel like a coward. He wouldn't stay on the ground in front of this man.

Stop it.

His father stumbled to the other side of the room where Sasuke had landed. He took a drink of sake from the bottle and threw it at the wall behind Sasuke. Trembling, with fear and anger, Sasuke stood and looked his father in the face. But again, the hit came, in the stomach this time, just like last night. Sasuke doubled over from the aching in his mid section and refused to fall to his knees.

Don't.

A few seconds later Sasuke stood up and when the punch came this time, he dodged it. The fist plowed into the wall. With an anger roar, his father ripped his fist out of the wall and slammed it at Sasuke again. Sasuke caught it in the shoulder and felt a rip in his muscle. He let out a whimper and held out his hand to catch himself when he hit the floor.

Please.

Sasuke bit back tears. He didn't want to cry, but there wasn't anything in his body that didn't hurt. He was always in pain, it was always like this. A never ending cycle that Sasuke just couldn't stop. Sasuke felt a kick to his stomach but he was starting to get used to it, even getting used to the blood that he just coughed up again.

Stop it!

He just couldn't get up anymore. He didn't even want to. If he just laid here maybe his father would get bored and go away. Go away and let Sasuke mourn in his misery alone. His father hit him again, but this time he just didn't feel it. Sasuke laid there, looking up at his father. Hate, there was so much hate that Sasuke felt at the moment but he just couldn't surface it. Sasuke could do nothing but lay there and take the next hit.

STOP IT!!

---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---

The sun shone so bright that Sasuke closed his eyes to it. The tree he sat under did nothing to stop the sun from shining on him. He looked around at the kids playing in the playground and eating their lunch on picnic tables and hated everyone of them. They didn't have a psychotic freak for a father. Their families loved them and made them lunch to eat outside. Sasuke looked at his empty lap and his stomach growled a bit.

He scowled at it and went back to brooding. The sun was getting annoying, but at least the wind was getting the leaves to move in front of it. His classmates ran around laughing, he scoffed. They were annoying. All the teachers thinking that they knew everything, bull, they didn't know anything, least of all how to teach. Annoying.

Sasuke picked some grass to tear it apart, just for entertainment. After a while it wasn't entertaining anymore and looked around for something else to do. There was nothing, so he sat in his spot under the tree and folded his sore arms. He held back a wince.

From behind him came a giggle, but he ignored it. Then it came closer, still he ignored it. But it sounded again, from the same person and he was so annoyed that the eight year old rounded back, intent on telling whoever it was to shut up.

Instead he came nose to nose with bright green eyes. He had never seen eyes like that and they made him stare for a second before he backed away from the girl that possessed the eyes he liked. With the bright green eyes, came bright pink hair and Sasuke found himself staring a really pretty girl about his own age.

"Who are you?" he demanded rudely, uncomfortable with this girl. She giggled again and sat down, uninvited, next to him under the tree.

"My name's Sakura, why are you pouting so much?" she said, bringing her knees to her chest and resting her head on them.

"I'm not pouting," Sasuke scoffed. He didn't like this girl.

"Of course you are. If you weren't, you'd be playing with us," Sakura told him, with a smile on her face. Sasuke just glared at her, with a flare of anger starting in his gut.

"I don't play," he said, hoping she'd get the hint and shove off. She didn't.

"Well, then I'll sit with you so you're not lonely and we can share my lunch box, since you don't have one, okay?" she said, pulling a box from the other side of her and placing it in front of the both of them.

Sasuke just looked at her smiling face. He'd never seen anyone smile the way she did. It was just so out there and full of energy, it was nothing like the small, polite smiles he'd seen. This girl was seemed different and kinda stupid. "You're annoying," he blurted out.

Sakura looked over, a fire in her bright green eyes and said, "Well, you're no prince charming either." She took a rough bite from half the sandwich that was in the lunch box. Without censoring his thoughts Sasuke made a fool of himself.

"Who's prince charming?" he asked. The minute he asked, he wished he could have retracted the words that revealed his lack of knowledge. Sakura looked at him weird. But instead of denouncing his lack of knowledge, she enlightened him.

"Um, he's a person that a princess marries, the perfect guy," she told him with a smile. His lips twitched up involuntarily. He couldn't help it, the idea was just so stupid. Why would a boy want to marry a girl anyway? The idea just didn't make sense. Her smile grew really wide and she gasped at him. "You just smiled!" she said.

"You're really annoying," he said, but the slight tell tale of his one up curved lip gave him away. She just giggled again and took another bite of the sandwich.

"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked after a moment.

"I'm not hungry," was his automatic response. But his stomach growled just then and gave him away. Sakura laughed full out with her pink hair slightly shaking with the laughter.

"You can just eat it," she told him, again with the smile. He looked at the food and with hesitation pulled out the other half of the sandwich. But before he put some of it into his mouth he looked over at Sakura. She was starring at him, making him slightly uncomfortable.

"I can't eat with you staring at me," he said, voice deadpanned. Her face heated up to a slight pink and she looked away. Only then, with a tiny smirk on his face, did he take a bite of the sandwich.

Once he chewed he looked over at her. "Are you new here?"

Sakura shook her head. How could that be? He'd remember a girl with pink hair who smiled a lot running around here at recess. But in his memory he just couldn't see her, he'd never met her before. This girl, Sakura, was confusing him with her smiles and kindness. He couldn't remember a time someone had been this nice to him.

"My uncle is a teacher here and my mom and dad are moving so I came to work with him for the day while mom and daddy get things set up at our new house," Sakura told him, then popped a grape into her mouth.

"So you're only here for one day?" he asked, slightly disappointed that she wasn't going to stay. He pushed away the emotion, wondering where that even came from.

"Yeah, the new house is in the next state over, so I won't go to this school," she said, looking almost as disappointed at he felt. Sasuke sucked it up though. He didn't know what else to say so he said nothing and silence fell over them.

Sakura then looked over at him, but said nothing. Her head was slightly tilted to the side. He continued to eat, but he noticed that this was an annoying habit she seemed to have. He glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye, hoping she wouldn't notice. But she didn't stop starring and she was looking rather thoughtful so he didn't interrupt her even though he could feel his face growing hotter with each passing second.

"You never told me your name," she said. Sasuke looked over surprised.

"Sasuke," he said, without thought. She graced him with one of her bright smiles and lunged at him.

She hugged him, squealing, "Hi, Sasuke." But his encounter with his father last night didn't make this possible without pain. He hissed at the pain that she just caused in his arm and chest area. Immediately, she pulled back and looked at him. He readjusted his sore limbs so they didn't hurt anymore, while she stared at him, confused.

"Are you okay?" she demanded. Her gaze went to the bruise on his cheek that she had ignored during their encounter.

"Just fine," he grunted, his chest feeling heavy making breathing slightly difficult.

"How'd you get that bruise on your cheek?" she asked, suddenly serious for an eight year old. The anger in the pit of his gut that had diminished, came back now in full force. She had no right to ask him that like she expected him to answer. What did she know? She was too happy to know anything. And in Sasuke's opinion, she should stay that innocent and stop asking stupid questions. Stupid questions that could get her in trouble.

"Like it matters," he said. He looked away from her, so she couldn't see the bruise anymore. Sakura touched his shoulder, as a sign of comfort he guessed. He scrunched up his face in pain and flinched away from her hand. His shoulder felt even worse today than if felt last night.

"Sasuke," she breathed. Ashamed, he turned his body away from her. He didn't want her pity, he couldn't handle it. How could she even know? Is she psychic or something? he thought aggressively.

"Go away," he pushed. She laid a comforting hand on his back. He flinched, but this time it wasn't pain. It was just that she touched him so gently, not like anyone else had before. It was comforting in a way.

"I'm sorry," Sakura sounded so sincere. Sasuke felt a tug at his chest and a burn in his eyes.

"Just go away," he told her, harder this time, so she would. She didn't. This girl was too stubborn to go anywhere. She wanted to help him. She was just too nice.

"You have to tell somebody," she urged him. Sasuke clenched his jaw together. Her hand was still on his back.

"They wouldn't listen," he rejected. Go away, go away, he chanted, his heart rate increasing. But Sakura was a stubborn one and she didn't listen to his thoughts.

"Make them. Or something really bad could happen," she said. Her voice was small and quiet, so unlike how she was before. Sasuke clenched his fists in the grass, not knowing what he was feeling at this point in the conversation.

"Something bad does happen, all the time," Sasuke said. He felt himself shake, he was so nervous. Sasuke guessed that she was going to say something else but she was cut off.

"Sakura! Get over here!" a teacher shouted. Sasuke looked over and guessed it was her uncle.

"I'm not someone you should talk to, you should go away," Sasuke said over his shoulder. She felt her lay her head on his back, and Sasuke felt his heart beat faster and faster. He didn't know what it was doing.

"'Should' doesn't mean anything. I can do what I want. I'm scared for you," she said. He felt the vibration of her voice on his back and it made him tingly. She was accepting him, he thought, stunned. Sasuke just didn't know how to deal with that.

"You've just met me," Sasuke reminded her.

"Does that matter?" Sakura replied.

"Sakura! Now!" the teacher said. Just then, the bell for recess was rung and all the kids started to file back into the building. Sakura got up, slowly. Before she left with her lunch box, he felt her hand slide from his back, like she didn't want to leave and walked toward her uncle. She looked back when she reached her uncle, to see Sasuke still under the tree.

Sasuke looked at her, not able to look away from the bright green eyes and watched her until she disappeared. The playground was empty now, but he just couldn't stop looking where she had last been.

"Uchiha! Get inside!" another teacher yelled from the door to the building. With slight annoyance at the teacher, he got up and crossed the basketball court to go into the building. Once inside, he didn't see Sakura. And he didn't see her for the rest of the day.

---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---

That night he got home, but the house was silent. That was such a relief that Sasuke sighed audibly. The house didn't make a sound as he went from the foyer to the den. He didn't dare stay there long, not knowing when his father would come home. His father had an odd job that gave him weird hours, so it couldn't be predicted when Sasuke would have to hide.

In the den Sasuke unlocked the window, then looked around to see if anyone was outside. There was no one in the neighbor's yard or window, so Sasuke pushed up on with all his strength to push the window open. With a few shoves it was at the point where he could reach under it and pull up the screen. He let the screen behind the glass stay raised, then closed the window but didn't lock it.

Something really bad could happen.

Sasuke stopped in the hallway and shook off Sakura's words. He knew what could happen to him if he stayed here. Sakura didn't need to tell him that. But he also knew the bigger risk of trying to run away. He didn't know what success would bring him but he knew what failure would. That option was shoved from his mind. That wasn't something he wanted to think about right now.

Quickly Sasuke took the kitchen and found cans and warm pop that wouldn't spoil fast and threw them in a bag that was under the sink. He threw in bottles of water and a bag of chips as well. Taking the items upstairs, he put them on the bedside stand. Sasuke hurriedly checked the time and found it to be near five o'clock. His father had a meeting today and he knew that afterward he'd go out drinking with his buddies again, just like he did every meeting, so he probably wouldn't be home for another four hours at least. Quickly, Sasuke ran to his father's room. He had never been his father's room and the door creaked when he opened it.

His heart beat thundered in his ears and his palms were sweating. He didn't know why, it's not like he was going to get caught, but all the same, he couldn't stop his adrenaline from pumping throughout his body. He crept in the room going on tiptoe. The floorboards cricked under his weight and Sasuke held his breath but kept moving forward into the dark, intimidating room. The room was colder than the rest of the house and Sasuke didn't dare turn the light on.

He scurried across the room like a mouse, trying to make minimal noise. His eyes were adjusting to the light and he crossed the room to the closet. Sasuke could only see from the light in the hallway but it was enough to tell him that what he was looking for wasn't there. So Sasuke crept to the right and opened his father's dresser drawers and moved stuff around so he could find what he was looking for.

His squinted in the minimal light, but the item wasn't in the drawers either. Sasuke stood, frustrated, and looked around. The darkness in this room was getting to him, making him more scared than he already was. He felt a sense of hurriedness, his hands were trembling and his knees were shaking. Quickly, he ducked down on the floor and looked under the bed, the last place he had to look.

And he found a box. This was his best lead all day. Sasuke pulled the box to him and sat on his legs. Trembling hands reached out and the lid to the box opened like the heavens when an angel sings Hallelujah. Inside was a sleek black pistol, shining in the dim light. Sasuke picked it up out of the box and marveled at its weight. Under the pistol was the silencer that went with it. Sasuke's nerves jacked up one more level with the discovery of the silencer. He was stunned that he actually found the gun because in the back of his mind he had wondered, what if he couldn't find it.

Now, his resolve hardened one more time that night. He took a deep breath to steady himself then wiped his finger prints off the box and left it out. He destroyed his finger prints on the dresser drawers and the closet knob. He left the room leaving the door open. In the hallway upstairs he jumped up and broke pictures or tore them down. In the upstairs bathroom, he went to the cabinet and pushed out all the products, then his own room and messed it up. He threw clothes and tipped the dresser then broke the lamp.

Rushing downstairs, he tore the whole place to hell. Pans were on the floor, food was jumbled and disorganized. The pillows on the couch thrown around, the TV was smashed, the chair was turned over and all the pictures on the wall were torn down or their glass was broken. Taking a step back to look at his handiwork, Sasuke felt satisfaction creep up his spine and made his face muscles give a dirty grin. Sasuke went into the downstairs hallway and turned into the kitchen.

He grabbed a long knife and, with a knife in one hand and gun in the other, went up the flight of stairs that led him to the second floor. He took his t-shirt and ripped the sleeve, then ripped that sleeve in half. He walked over the best and put down the gun with that silencer that was attached to it. Sasuke went over the wall and steeling himself for more pain, closed his eyes and sliced the knife across his palm.

The slice was slightly deep and it burned. Sasuke cried out and felt tears form in his eyes. The tears clung to his lashed and then dripped down his cheeks. Slamming his burning palm against the wall, he smeared blood on it. When the wall was a dark crimson he removed his hand from the wall and wrapped it in his sleeve then tied it so the makeshift bandage stayed in place. His tears had ceased forming and walking back to the bed he lifted the gun in his good hand.

Sasuke checked the silencer and, being satisfied with it, shot it at the wall where his blood was stained. The kick back hurt his hand and arm so much that he dropped the gun and it clattered to the floor. Quickly, he bent to retrieve it and stuffed that in his bag too. He took one last look at the wall then ran downstairs in darkness. He rushed to the living room and opened the window, careful not to let his finger prints touch it much.

Sasuke climbed out and circled around the house. Sasuke found a window that was placed in the kitchen and with eerie calm, he threw a rock at it. The window shattered, making a loud crash and Sasuke ran. His heart was beating so hard he could feel the pumping of blood in his body and his hands were so shaky, but he couldn't help it. Sasuke ran and ran until he didn't know where he was anymore. When he had no clue where he was or what time it was, only that it was dark, he found a deep creek. At the creek, Sasuke wiped off the finger prints and threw it in the creek.

---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---

His body burned. His lungs were dying, his feet were blistered and his legs felt like jell-o. Sasuke had never felt like this, in all his eight years of being kicked around by his dad this feeling of exhaustion was new to him. This was deep in his bones, almost buried in his soul. He had tried to sleep, but he couldn't manage anything more than a light, shallow snooze.

Sasuke was too paranoid to sleep. He was afraid they'd come after him and give him back to his dad. That wasn't acceptable. So Sasuke kept going and didn't stop. When he did stop it was to rest and eat. But his supplies had given out two days ago. He was on his last bottle of water. Sasuke didn't keep track of the days anymore, he didn't even know where he was. All he knew was that being here and exhausted was better than being with his father.

The sun was shining hot that day. But he was in the woods and couldn't feel its rays. However he could feel its heat. It felt like it was suffocating him. His breathing was labored and he struggled to take one more step, but he managed it. He took another and another. Sasuke didn't know how he had that strength, or what he was even doing, but he kept going. The fear and anger motivation him to move forward and never look back.

I'm away, Sakura. Nothing bad is going to happen anymore.

She had been on his mind since he had ran away. She was his catalyst. Sakura had given him this idea to get away, no matter what. For that, he would always be grateful to her. Without her, he would have just endured. Now he felt indebted to her for helping him run. Sasuke took another step and crunched the grass. Then another. All at once his vision started to blur. Sasuke stopped, alarm rising up in him. His vision swam and then all at once went black. And Sasuke had no choice but to fall into the abyss.

But even though his body couldn't support him anymore, his mind told him to wake up. Sasuke struggled to open his eyes, to keep going. He rolled on his back with a moan. Past injuries hurting him. He didn't know how long he laid there, but despite his efforts to open his eyes, he couldn't. They were just too heavy.

Suddenly, he heard a voice. It shouted and sounded like it was coming closer. The voice was deep, male. Sasuke felt scared. What if it was his father? What if he had been found and was going to get sent back to his father? He wanted to run again and keep going. But he couldn't open his eyes, they just wouldn't do it. His body refused to move even though his mind commanded it to frantically. Nothing worked.

Sasuke felt hands on him. Running over him, checking him for injuries. Then the hands lifted him up. One hand under his knees and the other supporting his back. Sasuke tried to struggle and break free. He couldn't, again his body refused him. The voice was talking again, but it sounded so far away that Sasuke couldn't make out what he was saying. It was as if he was under water. And despite all his struggles, Sasuke's world went black.

---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---0---

There was something soft under him. It felt suspiciously like a bed. He was aware that his mouth was completely dry, his stomach felt like a black hole, and his arm felt sort of pricked. Sasuke came slowly into consciousness, his head spinning. He groaned but it felt like a rasp came from his throat and he opened his eyes.

Bright lights burned his retinas and he quickly closed them again. Not only did he notice that his eyes burned now, but his body felt like lead. So heavy that he doubt he could lift it. His life sucked at the moment.

"So you're finally awake," a male voice spoke. With a lot of effort on his part, Sasuke managed to turn his neck and open his eyes. Vision was blurry at first, but then, after a few blinks, came into focus.

A tall man sat in the seat beside the bed. A hospital bed, in a hospital room and Sasuke only guessed he was tall, since he was sitting. His shoulders were wide and the man was wearing very dark colors: dark pants and shirt and dark green vest. Something surprising to Sasuke was that a mask crept up from his shirt and covered the lower half of his face. The man had a shock of white hair but he didn't look old at all. The last shocking thing Sasuke saw was the eyes patch over his left eyes.

"Where am I and who are you?" Sasuke croaked out. His throat burned with the effort.

"The hospital," the man said like it was no big deal. "My name is Kakashi Hatake."

Sasuke felt his heart speed up and stomach fall to his knees. He'd been found.

A/N: A new story for a new day. Earlier in my school year I had been reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and during that time, I had written the first part of this but never finished. So while my other story is getting edited, I'm writing this one on a more serious basis. Read, review.