It was never me.

The dresses. The jewelry. The glam life. The good life.

It was never me.

Never for me.

I could never have it.

When I broke my wrist after Karin pushed me down the stairs, it took three weeks for my parents to finally notice this and take me to the hospital. The just didn't care about me anymore. I love them with my whole heart. They hated me with their whole heart. They might still too.

By the time they took me to the hospital, the doctors had to break my wrist yet again because it had started to grow back deformed. Instead of going straight and connecting to my arm, the bone actually started to slant sideways.

It hurt so badly.

The worst thing though, about me breaking my arm. Those three weeks that it was broken, I was screeching in pain.

And my parents didn't even seem to think that that was not normal for me.

No.

Apparently it is normal to have your child screeching in utter pain

Just one question.

How come when Karin cut herself with a knife, my parents felt the need to take her to a doctor? Even when she was screeching in pain?

I thought that was…

…normal…

Frostless Ice

Chapter 3

Dodge Ball

A paper ball whizzed past my ear.

I didn't turn around. I wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of seeing myself all twisted up and bruised. Not physically but mentally. I didn't doubt that they could see it though. My eyes were probably the worst. They gave away every bit of information on how I was feeling. I hated that. I was working on it though.

Sometimes, if you don't look closely, you won't be able to tell. That alone could bring a smile to my face. A time where nobody could tell what I was feeling? That would be so nice. As I said, work in progress though.

This time a paper plane hit me square in the face from the front. I still didn't look though. It would be too painful. I couldn't do it. So instead, I raised my hand.

Kurenai-Sensei looked up from her book to check out the class and saw my hand up. "Yes, Sakura?" She asked.

"May I use the bathroom?" I put my hand down gently. Sensei nodded so I got up, grabbed the hall pass, and walked out the door as fast as I could without it being obvious. If they saw it, they would tell everybody.

I will have had no place to go. Not like I do now. I have some places to go. Like the nurses office. I always feel welcomed there by Shizune.

Shizune's the nurse here. She's amazing believe it or not. She's also the school's principle's helper. A lot to do in a school but that's fine.

I walked to the girls bathroom, walked in, and locked the door. I didn't know why they had locks on the inside of the bathrooms but they do and I used them. All the time. I slumped up against the door and let my head rest against it. It was only second block but I was already tired. Oh so tired.

"Aahh…" I sighed as I slipped my head phones into my ears. I pressed the start and music immediately flowed through them. Music could calm me. I loved music. I was more of a rock fan than all of those cookie cutter pop stars songs. Give me a nickelback CD and I'm happy. Or as happy as I could get nowadays.

After about three songs, I stopped my iPod, returned it to my pocket, and instead grabbed something else from my pocket.

A bottle of iron pills.

My whole body was hurting and I had anemia. Not really the greatest combination. Nobody cares anymore. Even if I start to heave and can't breathe from lack of iron in my body.. It doesn't matter anymore because I realized way back when that I was on my own. That I shouldn't, wouldn't, couldn't trust anybody else. Nobody. Nobody but myself.

I heaved my body up and went to the sink. I poked two iron pills out of the small bottle and popped them in my mouth before washing them down with some water. The iron felt good and familiar running down my throat. I loved it.

I craved it.

Some days, iron pills feel like my life source. I love it so much.

By the time I got out of the girls bathroom, I realized that I had been gone for about fifteen minutes. Hey, it was shorter than last time. Or, it would have been. If somebody hadn't been blocking my path.

"Thank god! I have to piss like, so badly!" The girl shoved me aside where I fell to the ground. My butt hurt and when I was starting to get up, I was a bit shaky. I don't know what was happening but… I kind of liked it.

I felt a hand grab my elbow and picked me up from off of the ground. My eyes wandered around for a second after I had stood up to see…

Uchiha Sasuke.

My brows furrowed as I watched him watch me.

Why would he…?

He picked something up off of the ground and glanced at it. "Your anemic?"

I glanced at the object of choice in his hands and realized that it was my iron pills. The little white capped bottle was in his hands. I snatched them back quickly and shoved them into my pocket. I know it was rude but I don't really like people knowing something so personal to me.

"Yes." We were still staring at each other by the time I said another sentence. "Thank you for… helping… me up." I turned to leave but he grabbed my arm.

"Wait." My head turned towards him a little to let him know that I was listening. He let go of my arm. "Do I have any classes with you this year?"

My eyes and head inevitably looked down. "First, third, and fourth block." Then I walked away.

Sasuke still continued to stare at my back before he too, left that spot. Probably to go to class.

I kept my eyes dead ahead though. Of course he wouldn't know that I was in three of his classes. Nobody would. Except Karin. She always seemed to know what class I was in or where I was headed at the time. People would say that it was kind of like the beginnings of a stalker but I knew that Karin wasn't a stalker. She was not a stalker. I lived with her. Even if half of the people didn't know that. I just happened to have the same last name as her. That's all.

God, I was so tired. It almost hurt to be that tired. I just hated not getting any sleep at all.

Nightmares filled my dreams. Often at times, I would wake up screaming in the middle of the night. Luckily, my room was sound proof. No noise could get in or out. Only if I opened up the windows but still.

By the time I got to Kurenai-Sensei's classroom, class was half over. She raised a perfectly defined brow at my arrival before glancing up at the clock. I nodded and then put the pass back from where I got it. I returned back to my seat. The iron pills were starting to take affect. Any uneasiness that I had felt before was gone. I felt refreshed.

My eyes were bright and cheerful. That's what I love about my iron pills. They make me… happy. Not in a druggie kind of way. No. they make me feel that… life… their's still hope in the world. That maybe…

Maybe somebody will like me. As a friend because that's all that I want right now. A friend. I wouldn't mind having a few actually. To have someplace to go to when I was feeling down or just wanted to go somewhere. Just to hangout with friends. I want friends.

Not just Ino. She's great right now but I want more. Ino has more friends. I want to be like her. I idolize Ino. She makes me have hope. But so do my iron pills and I have an extensive use for them. I can get them anytime I want. Ino, I have to plan it out very carefully. Is that how friends are? They aren't really spontaneous if that's how it is.

My seat felt cold. Oh so very cold. It got me thinking. I'm not sure about what. Just… thinking. About everything and yet, nothing. Just thinking. It felt nice. To not have to worry about life's drawstrings that pulled at you. Sometimes life made me feel like a puppet. Like my life was already decided for me. I had no say in the matter. But yet, sometimes it felt like I was in control of my own life. It felt nice when that happened. Even though it was extremely rare to happen. I still treasured it like my life line. Just like my silence. I treasured them so much that I felt at times they just weren't real.

But they were. And I loved that.

The bell rang. I quickly grabbed my stuff, slammed them into my book bag and walked out the doorway towards my third block. This one had Karin in it. I had Karin in my first and third block. I don't know if I should be happy about that, or just plain sad. I mean, a lot of people hate Karin. And I mean a lot.

I reached third block which was gym. This, actually, was one of the few classes that I was not failing over the course of the year. It was the second semester though. Meaning that school was almost over. Well, it's only sophomore year. Next year, I'll be a junior. Almost out of this hell hole called High school. That alone almost made me jump for joy. Surprisingly.

I bounced all the way to the locker room to get changed. I was so joyful from the iron pills. I didn't know why but, at the next minute, all of my bubby spirit vanished at what I saw. Karin was macking on Ino's cheating boyfriend. Again.

She seemed to sense my presence because she turned around ever so slowly.

"Ano… Karin…" I said quietly. "That's Ino's boyfriend." She raised her brows. "You shouldn't be doing that to Ino's boyfriend unless they break up first…" My voice thinned out and altogether stopped. Karin was glaring at me so hard by then that my heart almost stopped.

Had I said something wrong?

"Bitch, what she doesn't know won't hurt her! I already told you that! Now keep it to yourself or so help me!" Karin shrieked. It felt like a punch in the gut. Her words hurt me so much. I would always bounce back though but right now, my good mood instantly went away as I scurried past her and Ino's cheating boyfriend to the girls locker room to change.

I didn't even realize that a pair of eyes had witnessed the whole thing. Not even when they followed me all the way to the locker room. Not even then.

When I walked into the locker room, I instantly got mixed expressions from everybody. Some gave me sympathetic looks -

Did they hear Karin just now?

- and most of glares.

It didn't phase me though. It should have but I was so used to it by now. It was like an everyday thing nowadays. I didn't like it. I did mind it though. It bothered me. A lot. But I didn't - couldn't - let anyone know that. It would be so very wrong. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

So, instead I got changed quickly and left just as quickly as I had came in. I was the last one out though. Well, there were a few stragglers but nobody really. On the way out through the door though, I bumped into somebody trying to come in.

I looked at the person. She had long midnight blue hair that went down to almost reaching her butt. She had large white eyes and they only widened even more when she realized who she had bumped into with the door. I didn't give her any look. My face was stoic. I perfected it over the years.

"Sorry." I muttered before leaving. I didn't want to be there any longer.

I chose to sit on the bleachers all the way in the top and back instead of on the ground and running around, laughing. I didn't even realize that there was somebody on the other side of the bleachers though. I didn't even realize that said person was looking at me either. It was pretty sad. I didn't even realize that they had started to make their way towards me.

The coach came out and blew the whistle. He looked up at me and instantly a sympathetic look passed by his face quickly. I clenched my fists white. Then I stumbled down the bleachers towards Gai-Sensei. He didn't look at me all the rest of the time he was talking to the kids about what we were going to be playing today.

Dodge ball. Nice.

I'm pretty sure that Gai-Sensei still thinks we're all nine year olds rather than sixteen year olds. Or soon to be sixteen year olds. I was still fifteen but my birthday's coming up soon. Joy (note the sarcasm).

Anko-sensei suddenly ran in to the gym. She had a CD player or a radio tucked under her arm haphazardly. She whistled a bit while going towards the bleachers. She set the radio down and then turned it on.

"We're gonna listen to The Offspring. If you hate them, suck it up."

Suddenly, Your gonna go far, kid by The Offspring started shooting through the speakers.

Show me how to lie

Your getting better all the time

And turning all against the one

Is an art that's hard to teach

You could hear a bunch of girls start booing at the music. Anko-sensei paused the song. That's when everything got real quiet.

"I'm sorry… MIND SAYING THAT AGAIN YOU LITTLE COCKROACHES!!??" She shouted at everybody. Nobody uttered a sound. Anko-sensei looked around with a satisfied smirk. Then, she turned the song back on.

Another clever word

Sets off an unsuspecting herd

And as you step back into line

A mob jumps to their feet

I sighed happily. Now this was my kind of music. But then we were trying to pick captains.

Gai-sensei came up. "Alright. Captains will be…" He scanned the crowd. "Karin and Sakura."

I gulped. How could he pick me!? Nobody wants to be on my team! I'm going to be all alone.

Gai-sensei positioned me and Karin in front of everybody else. "Alright, go to the person who's team you want to be on."

Everybody seemed to migrate over to Karin. Even if they hated her, apparently she was still better than me. That is, until I realized that one person had come over to my side.

Sasuke Uchiha

Now dance, fucker, dance!

Man he never had a chance!

And no one even knew

It was really only you

All the other people on Karin's side seemed to think before about half of the others came over onto my side.

Well, it looks like I won't be all alone now does it? Even if Sasuke did it out of pity. I still turned around and gave him a small, almost unnoticeable smile. He nodded his head.

Than the game really started.

Balls were placed on the center line in the gym. Gai-sensei blew the whistle and then all hell emerged from within the shadows. Everybody (minus a few girls) sprinted towards the balls to get a grab at them. Only a few emerged with them though. I actually, happened to be one of them surprisingly.

The ball felt heavy in my hands. I wanted to get rid of it; hand it to someone else on my team. But I didn't. Instead, I aimed and threw it at a random person on the other team. It hit a girl as the guy that I had aimed at originally jumped to the side to avoid getting the impact of the ball hit on him. I inwardly shuddered. That must have hurt her so badly.

The girl's face was thrown to the side from the impact. She touched a hand to her cheek, looked up at me, and screamed. "YOU LITTLE BITCH! NOW I'LL PROBABLY HAVE A MARK ON MY CHEEK AND IT'S ALL THANKS TO YOU!!"

Everybody in the gymnasium seemed to turn towards where I was. What they saw shocked them though.

I was no where to be seen…

XxXxX

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, STUPID!" I bereted myself for what happened in gym class. It shouldn't have happened. I shouldn't have thrown it that hard. Hell, I shouldn't have thrown it at all. Not after all the damage I've caused?

My heart was racing and I felt like I couldn't breath. I fumbled in my gym shorts pocket for my Iron pills and pulled them out. I popped two in my mouth and swallowed them haphazardly. The Iron pills that slid down my throat felt so familiar. I loved it. The feeling. It was exhilarating.

Until something pushed me from behind. I slammed into the lockers on my right side. Hard.

The person took my face, harshly, and rubbed it against the lockers. I could feel the metal grating against my skin on my face. It was a pain that soon turned into a searing pain.

My side hurt to as the person held me down against the lockers.

All I could think was Why is this happening…?

The person then leaned in closely and whispered in my ear, "You little bitch. You hurt my girlfriend. I think it's time to pay for what you-"

Then the weight was off of my back. I felt my shoulders slump as I turned around and looked at what had made the person stop.

I saw Sasuke Uchiha kneeing the guy in the groin and then repeatedly taking his head and hammering it onto his knee. In his wake, he left a bloody face with probably a broken nose and no possibility for future children. He let the guy fall down before he got back up and ran away. All the while leaving blood trails following him.

My knees buckled from underneath me, so I went down. My butt hit the cold and hard flooring. Sasuke's eyes looked towards me as I slowly cringed. He walked towards me and lifted out a hand. My eyes darted to and fro his awaiting hand, and his face.

I was scared to tell the truth. I wasn't sure if he was going to do what that other guy did to me. After all, people nowadays are really good at acting.

"I don't have all day." He grumbled impatiently. If I wasn't so scared, I would have laughed at that. Instead, I took the hand cautiously. He pulled me up quickly and in the process I lost my footing and fell against his chest.

I mumbled a quick sorry and then turned away. A blush riding my cheeks and the back of my neck.

He looked at me but then turned away. He called over his shoulder, "You need to learn how to defend yourself." Then he motioned with his head for me to follow.

I was stumped.

Understatement of the century though.

I inevitably followed him though. Quite carefully and extremely cautiously. But all in all, I have to say,

The day was starting out weird.

XxXxX

Hey! So, yeah. That's it. Sorry it's so short but it's like… 12:30 …err… almost 12:30 right now. I need meh shut eye! Anywho. I would like to say that, the next ones I hope will be longer. I just really don't want you guys waiting this loooooong for a chapter. I want to get one in every week. Not every month!

Anywho.

I hope that you guys enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it.

If you guys have any questions at all, send me a message.

Is it going to fast? What do you guys think? Should I add the Sasuke helping Sakura part later on?

-Dorky DippinFanny