Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and am not involved with the making of it, or its idea, or any crap like that. I'm just one of those retarded fans who like to write.
Looks May Deceive; This Is Not What It Appears To Be…?
~Chapter 1: Surprise Surprise~
_-Konoha: The Haruno Household-_
"Don't worry about it, Mom! I'll be fine!" a fifteen-year-old Sakura exclaimed to her parents as she led them out the door, "You two need to go out and enjoy yourselves for once!"
"Alright, alright," the mother responded, pulling on her coat, "Good night, and don't stay up too late."
"I won't. Bye!"
The door slowly slammed behind them and soon, it was all silent.
Quietly, though she was alone, Sakura climbed up the stairs and into her room, closing the door behind her.
She grabbed the phone and dialed Ino, her chat buddy.
The girl sat down at her desk.
"'Ello! So your parents left?" a loud Ino yelled into the phone.
High music dominated the background sounds.
"TURN DOWN THAT MUSIC!" Sakura yelled back.
The music slowly turned down.
"Heh, sorry. You were saying?"
Sakura sighed.
"Yeah, they're gone. We can talk all night since it doesn't seem like they'll be back for a while…"
"Ok! I can go with that!"
Their conversation continued…
_-Konoha: On the Streets-_
A black shadow raced along the side of a busy road.
It was rush hour, so everyone was out and racing home.
It was unseasonably freezing, so naturally, everyone had their heat up full blast.
That certain person turned into the alley between the grocery store and the bar.
A mattress, worn and torn, rested next to the wall.
The person sat down on the mattress and huddled together, rubbing their hands roughly.
"Oh God… h-how can it-t be so… damn… c-cold!" they mumbled to themselves.
After many failed attempts to stay warm, the person stood up and walked down the alley a bit.
By now, it was getting really dark and the person was getting a bit restless.
They ran back to the street, keeping to the shadows as they headed for the houses and neighborhoods.
The person scanned the windows quickly, looking for one that had no lights on.
They spotted only one house; only the downstairs was lit up.
'Man, I wish I didn't have to do this… but the weather is just too bad… well, here goes something!' they thought as they jumped over the fence and crouched down under the kitchen window.
After gathering up as much courage as possible, they peered into the window, only to find nobody there.
They sighed in relief.
They noticed another window above and to the left, and how the boards carefully made a ladder up to it.
The person grinned and was quick to test the steps.
They easily made it to the window.
Next step: getting inside.
The person pulled out a nail from their backpack and started to pick the lock open.
_-Inside the House-_
Sakura was still talking to Ino when she heard some strange clicking noises from her window.
Quietly, she sat up from where she was laying on her bed.
"Ino, hush up for a minute, I heard something weird," she whispered to her noisy friend, who immediately went silent.
The Haruno watched as her window carefully opened and a shadow climbed in.
She watched as the unknown person immediately close the window behind them, listening to them breathe heavily and tiptoe towards the door.
Taking all the courage she had, she quickly stood up and, while their back was turned to her, shoved them down as hard as she could.
Sakura heard a surprised yelp, but kicked the person in the stomach.
She pulled her desk chair over on them and ran back to turn on the light.
"I-Ino?" she exclaimed into the phone while breathing heavily.
She could hear her heart beat quickly.
"Yeah? What's going on?" was asked back.
"I need you to come over here fast; someone just tried to break into my house!" she explained in a frightened voice.
"Woah! What?"
"No time to explain now. Please, just hurry!"
Ino immediately hung up the phone, and Sakura followed her lead.
Nervously, she turned around to face the person.
They were face-down, but from what she could tell, it was a boy about her age, dressed in torn, black clothing.
A backpack, presumably his, laid on her desk.
The boy was trying to get up when the girl finally walked over.
She stepped down on the chair, causing him to fall over and groan in pain.
Carefully, she turned it over and placed it yet again over him.
Sakura sat down.
"Well, would you like to explain just what's going on?" the Haruno asked in an irritated voice, though she was scared half to death inside.
"Please… w-wait a m-minute. I'm n-not a b-burglar!" the boy tried to say, stuttering.
"Ok, ok, calm down. Let's start with a name, shall we? What's your name?" Sakura interrupted, frustrated.
"S-Sasuke… Uchiha…"
"Ok and why are you breaking into my house?"
"B-Because… eh… umm… well… The weather's… p-pretty bad… and I… h-have no where else to g-go…"
Sakura sighed and, without thinking, asked, "How about you just GO. HOME.?"
The two sat in silence before the boy answered in a small voice, "I have no home… to go to…"
A sinking feeling appeared within the girl.
"I-I swear…" he went on, "I-I wasn't going… to take anything…"
The silence returned for a few minutes.
Sakura didn't move from her spot on the chair, and Sasuke was still trapped underneath.
Both listened quietly as rain started falling outside, making small noises when the drops hit the window.
"I'm… sorry… but…" Sakura started again, "I can't believe you. As much as I want to, I can't…"
Silence again.
"Can I at least spend the night? Please? I'm begging you…"
He didn't move from his place, but the tone of his voice told the truth.
Sakura sighed and, very cautiously, stood up.
She moved the chair back to its former location with the desk.
"Come on now, get up…" she said in an annoyed voice.
Sasuke followed her orders and slowly sat up.
His stomach was throbbing and there was a piercing pain on his forehead.
When he looked up at her, he heard a gasp.
"Your forehead is bleeding!" Sakura exclaimed in terror.
She crouched down in front of him, grabbed his chin and turned his head.
"Oh… eh… um… I must've hit it against the edge of the desk or something…" the Uchiha mumbled.
She pulled him up by his collar and out the door.
Then the two got downstairs, pushing him down the couch.
"Ok, let's see now…" Sakura muttered.
She left him there and approached the desk on the side of the room, opening up the first drawer.
Sasuke slowly tried sitting up, but was pushed back down.
He felt his arms pulled behind his back and something rough wrapped around his hands.
Next thing he knew, he was tied up to the coffee table leg.
He frowned.
"Now, hold still while I get the First Aid Kit…"
The Uchiha watched sleepily as she left the room, soon returning with a rather small box.
He continued staring when she crouched down next to him and opened it up, dumping out the contents on the table.
"Ok, this is going to sting a bit…" she stated as she put some hydrogen peroxide on a cotton swab.
Carefully, the girl held his head and touched the cotton to his forehead.
Sasuke took in a deep breath, but didn't complain; after all, she wasn't lying.
He stared at her face.
She was biting her lip, so it was apparent she was nervous.
"You ok?" the Uchiha asked quietly as he closed his eyes.
He felt her jump.
"Oh… eh… um…" she tried to answer.
"You seem nervous, or maybe a little frustrated. I'll behave, I swear. I'll be good…" he went on.
Sakura could tell he didn't want to be a bother.
"No… see, um… well, if you don't mind me asking…" she said quietly, sitting down in front of him and putting her hands in her lap, "Do you have any family…? And, well, why are you living on the streets…?"
"Oh, well, when I was eight, there was an accident… and, well… my parents were killed, and my brother went missing. So ever since then, I've lived in the alley between the grocery store and the bar…" the boy explained as if it was completely unimportant.
"Oh my God…" Sakura mumbled under her breath, "I'm so sorry, it must've been so hard for you…"
Sasuke shrugged.
"It's ok. It's a little easier to deal with now…"
Sakura cautiously placed a band-aid on his forehead.
"There you go…" she mumbled sadly.
"Thank you…" he responded, adding a nod at the end.
The Haruno walked over to the fireplace, grabbing two logs and matches on the way.
Just moments after Sakura finished, the doorbell rang.
She went to answer it.
Next thing Sasuke knew a crazy blonde girl was standing over him, shouting curses and hitting him repeatedly with her bag.
"Ino! Stop that!" he heard Sakura yell over her cussing.
The hitting stopped, but another force rested against his head, a third touching his cheek.
He suddenly realized he had fallen over, and the girls were checking if he was still conscious.
He muttered a few words under his breath and pulled weakly at the rope that bound him to the table.
The hand on his cheek disappeared, but not before pushing his bangs out of his eyes.
"Ino, can I talk to you in the kitchen?" Sakura asked her friend.
The Uchiha assumed she agreed, since he soon heard footsteps walking away from him.
'Oi…' Sasuke thought to himself as he opened his eyes.
His entire body stung, bruises forming almost instantly.
Painfully, the boy managed to sit up.
'Man… I wish I could get closer to that fire…'
He tried to pull his hands out of the rope, but it held still, as did the table when he tried to move that.
The boy sighed frustratedly.
He turned his attention to the slightly fogged-up window, watching the last bit of people return home.