Hey there!

As you can see, I'm back again. I was really inspired today, and so I wrote this as an 'end-of-August' surprise fic! There will only be three chapters and I'll be publishing the two chapters tomorrow. September's nearly here!

This chapter was inspired by the song Cry by Mandy Moore, and was written in Sakura's POV.

Other chapters were also inspired by other songs, but the next two were written in Sasuke's POV. :D

Disclaimer: Nope. I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

Enjoy!

"Want a muffin?"

He simply turned his head away from me. I sighed. This was just so hard.

"Well," I said again awkwardly, "just tell me if you want a muffin, okay?"

Still no response.

"You wanna talk about it?" I asked, mentally slapping myself in the process. Really? Just really, Sakura? The guy wouldn't even look at you so just drop it, I thought crudely. But then, stubborn old me still refused to give up.

"Are you sure you're oka—"

"Look," he interrupted me. He turned his head and shot me a hard glare. I simply looked back at him.

"I don't know what the hell you are doing here," he continued, "but just get this straight, I don't need your help. And no, I don't care about your stupid crush on me. No, not gonna happen. Now go," he finished rudely.

Normally, that kind of response from him—or from anyone for that matter—would have pissed me off, but somehow, I wasn't annoyed at all. I felt patient. Ergo, I merely shrugged.

"Let's get this straight, too," I said, looking up to the dull grey horizon. It was just a few weeks after classes had started, and I was starting to settle in to being a second-year college student. We were sitting by the beach; the rushing waves were getting bigger and bigger as time went by. There will be a storm soon, I noted vaguely.

"One," I continued, "this is where I go every day, and I sure as hell do not know what you are doing here and I also wouldn't care but two, it's not every day that I see the Uchiha Sasuke crying on the beach so I thought I would see if there was something wrong or at least give some comfort. It was simply common courtesy. And three, I had a crush on you. Yes. But that was way back in middle school. It's been eight years, we're both twenty years old now, and I'm totally over that. So if you're thinking that I was stalking you or anything because I'm still mooning my head off about you, then you're wrong."

I pulled my knees to my chest, inhaling the cold salty air. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him shift around, clearly uncomfortable.

"Just go," I heard him mutter.

"Not gonna happen, Uchiha," I said. "I come here every day, as I said. If my presence really bothers you that much, then you go."

I knew that if looks could kill, I'd probably be dead by now, but I didn't care. I was here to unwind, and no sniffling Uchiha had the power to stop me from doing my daily routine.

We sat there in silence. Obviously, none of us were willing to go. Yet.

"You know," I contemplated, "it is okay to cry it all out every now and then. After all, crying doesn't necessarily mean that you're weak. Sometimes, people cry because they have been tough for too long. But crying is an option, I guess. In case you don't like crying, there are also some ways to let all the frustration out. You can channel all that pent-up energy to do other stuff, like—I dunno—clean your room or whatever. That way, you get to let go of your bottled up emotions and accomplish something good at the same time."

"I'm not talking to you," he suddenly cut in.

"You just did," I responded bluntly, and that shut him up. Or so I thought.

"Well, why the hell do you even care?" He sounded really frustrated. "You don't know me."

"That's right," I agreed. "I don't know you, but I kinda know the feeling you're going through."

"And how is that?" he questioned me harshly, but then, I also heard curiosity in his tone.

"I also had my low moments. I also experienced those times when I really felt stupid, sad, or completely useless. I know how it feels to be so frustrated with how things are going, but somehow, you just can't do anything about it." Briefly, I smiled, remembering my past experiences.

"That used to get me every time," I went on. "Until I learned that as long as there is something that can be done to change my situation, then I should do it. I'd rather that I did all that I could do and still fail to make things better, than fail because I didn't do anything at all."

"You sound so sure," the Uchiha grunted.

"I only sound sure, but I'm not really sure sometimes. No one's ever sure all the time. That would make a person—I dunno, omniscient, maybe? Whatever." I tilted my head back, closing my eyes for a brief moment before I stretched out and looked at my watch, sparing the sky another glance. Hm, time to go home, I thought, as I reached for my satchel.

I rummaged around, searching for my car keys. Finding it, I looped the key ring around my index finger before looking up. And boy, what I saw made me stop for a moment.

There he was again, just as I had found him earlier: looking straight up in the sky, his onyx eyes glistening with tears. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard, trying not to let the tears fall. I had practically grown up with Sasuke for years, and even if I didn't know him well as a person, I knew that he had a pride so big that he would never let himself cry in front of anyone—particularly a girl, especially if that girl was me. The idiot was still trying to keep his cool dude image.

Suddenly, I wanted to just crawl over and hug him, to assure him that things will turn out okay. But I refrained from doing so. There'd be no point. I didn't know what it was that was bothering him, and I also didn't think that he would appreciate being hugged by me.

"My brother, Itachi. He's—he's been coughing blood lately," he suddenly said.

I froze, my eyes darting up to look at him. Onyx orbs met my green gaze. And I was right, he really was tearing up. Uchiha Sasuke, the famous university heartthrob, who was as tough and indifferent as a rock, and as cold as ice, turned out to be not so indifferent and cold at all. He really was trying hard not to cry.

He inhaled deeply. "I saw him the other day in the kitchen. The sink, it—it was splattered with blood. I heard him coughing it all up. He didn't know I saw, I just—," he broke off, no longer trusting his own voice, probably.

"You," he looked at me, his eyes pleading. I gaped at him; I had never thought I would see him like this.

"You're a Biology student. You gotta know something, anything. You study this, right? What's wrong with him? You have to know something, tell me, I nee—" He was beginning to ramble.

"Sasuke," I interrupt him gently, placing my hand over his briefly to keep him calm. "Calm down," I said quietly.

He looked at me before he swallowed again, nodding briefly. He understood that he should try and keep his wits together. If he had broken down in front of me, he would have regretted that and he would have inadvertently blamed me for witnessing that, and both he and I knew that we didn't want that to happen.

"I'm a Biology student, that's true. But I can't pinpoint what's wrong with him. I'm not yet skillful enough to diagnose people. I'm still an undergrad, and I still have to go to medical school. I'm not a doctor, Sasuke. I'm sorry," I said in a low voice.

"Yeah, I know. It was stupid for me to even think of it," he grunted, his voice thick.

"No, it wasn't," I differed. We looked at each other, then. The cold air whipped his raven hair back, just as wisps of my own hair flew across my face. I saw the redness of his eyes, his jaw tensed.

Sasuke was known to be very close to Itachi. When their parents had died in a car accident back when we had been sophomores in high school, Itachi, who had just turned twenty-one, had immediately taken the burdens of running the family's company, pushing himself to the brink to secure his and Sasuke's future. And if Sasuke's sports cars were anything to go by, it was apparent that Itachi was successful in maintaining their family fortune. But then somehow, I knew that money was the least of Sasuke's worries right now. Itachi was all he had left. His only brother. His only family.

"I know how you feel," I whispered.

I saw his eyes widen briefly for a moment, remembering what had happened to me. Everyone knew my story, after all. My mother had died giving birth to me, and my father had been left to care for me, which he did, until his death three years before. His chain-smoking had taken its toll, and in the end, he had died of lung cancer. Until now, I lived with some of our relatives, but I had already planned to buy my own house and move there next spring. My dad had willed everything he had to me but I had known even back then that it would never be enough to fill up the emptiness I had inside.

"Sakura," he murmured. I looked up and I found that my vision was blurry, my eyes filled up with my own tears.

The rain suddenly began to fall hard, the waves rolling with massive force. We both got up to our feet at once and ran towards the side of the road, where our cars were parked. Thunder boomed overhead and it rained harder.

We were both drenched when we reached our destinations. I had just slipped into my convertible before I thought for a second and went out again.

"Sasuke!"

He was about to get in his car, but when I yelled his name, he turned, his black hair wet and dripping. My clothes stuck to my skin and it was freezing but I had to give something to him. I ran over and pulled out a calling card, using my hands to shield it from the rain. I handed it to him and he took it, looking questioningly at me.

"Go to her. She won't breathe a word about anything you'll tell her. Tell her I'm the one who told you to come," I gasped out. It was so cold. I turned to go, when I felt his hand on my arm.

"Sakura," he raised his voice over the sound of the falling rain.

"What?" I almost shouted.

"About what you saw earlier, and the way I acted, I—I, about my crying—"

"Crying?" I cut him off. "What crying? I didn't see anyone crying today, especially Uchiha Sasuke. That guy never cried. And if I did see his face wet today, that's because it was raining."

He looked at me, his expression dumbfounded. Then he smirked.

"Hn," he said, letting me go.

"No problem!" I shouted over my shoulder.

We both got into our respective cars, and as I drove off, I thought that I had handled the situation quite well. I made a mental note to do my best never to hastily judge or mock anyone in my life.

Because I didn't know their stories.

And because under the facade, even rocks crumble, and even an ice has tears.

Meanwhile, Uchiha Sasuke sat inside his car. Turning over the card the girl had given to him, his eyes widened as he saw the address of Dr. Tsunade, Sakura's mentor and one of the best doctors in the country.

Looking in his rearview mirror, he was able to catch a glimpse of Haruno Sakura's retreating car.

"Thank you," he silently whispered.

That's it for now. Stay tuned for the next two chapters.

I'd be able to upload them tonight or tomorrow.

Tomorrow tops. :D

Happy End-of-August!

Reviews pretty please!

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See ya!