Alright, this is pretty ridiculously early…again. But I've decided that I want to try to post updates on Sundays and since it's Sunday…here you go. I think from now on it'll probably be once a week updates. ;)

I really tried to slow this chapter down a little bit, thanks to some helpful reviews I could really see the first two chapters were kind of rushed. From now on, I'm hoping that won't be too much of a problem.

There isn't a ton of Gaara in this chapter…sorry. But there are definitely some cute Naruto/Sakura friend moments 3 Don't worry, there will be a lot of Gaara in chapter 4, hehe :D

THREE

The rest of the week went by fairly uneventfully for Sakura. She went to work every morning, did the mindless tasks that her redheaded boss would email to her, come home to find Sasuke still missing, and go to sleep with her feline friend on the couch. On her couch.

Sakura had been sleeping on the couch for as long as she could remember. The only time Sasuke consented to share the bed with her was when he wanted sex.

Sakura stretched and sat up from her couch-bed. She had been successfully able to avoid Ino and Naruto all week, somehow, but today they were both demanding to see her. She sighed deeply. Sasuke wasn't here so she couldn't tell him that she was leaving. She'd just have to hope to the gods that he wouldn't show up while she was gone.

Her injuries had healed up pretty well, but she reasoned that she would still have to tell her friends the mugging lie. Her eye was much better, but there was still a sickly green/yellow color to the skin around it. Her finger was obviously still broken and her chest was still very sore, although the bruises had at least faded slightly. She looked at her face in the bathroom mirror. That damn split on her lip was just never going to heal, was it?

Sakura jumped as she heard a loud buzzing sound coming from beside her, only relaxing when she realized that it was her cell phone. "Hello?" she said into the phone, trying not to sound tired.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto's ridiculously loud voice boomed through her cellphone.

"Hey, Naruto," Sakura couldn't help but smile at her friend's antics. That blue eyed menace had more energy than a hyperactive four year old. Hell, he had more energy than ten hyperactive four year olds.

"Are you still down to meet me for lunch today? Hehe," Naruto chuckled into the phone, barely containing his excitement to see his pink haired best friend.

"Of course, Naruto!" Sakura smiled, "oh, I guess I should probably mention, Ino is going to come with us."

"UGH, what?" Naruto groaned into the phone overdramatically.

"I know you two don't always get along, Naruto, but please, do this for me! I haven't seen either of you in so long and I miss you both so much!" Sakura barely controlled the whine in her voice. Naruto and Ino weren't exactly compatible, they could barely speak to each other without arguing.

There was silence on the line for a few seconds. "Fine," Naruto grumbled, "For you, but I'm not going to enjoy spending time with that loudmouth-blonde freak."

"Naruto, do you realize that you pretty much just described yourself?"

"Aw, shut-up, Sakura-chan! I'll see you in a little bit!" Sakura heard a click and knew her friend had hung up. She smiled, she really was excited to see him.

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Ino grumbled as she pulled a bright pink t-shirt over her head. Sakura had just texted her to let her know that Naruto would be going out to lunch with them. Ino couldn't stand that hyperactive knucklehead. But this was for Sakura, and she supposed this one time she could suck it up.

As she grabbed her purse to head out the door, Ino frowned. She had really been wanting to confront Sakura about Sasuke, but she didn't feel like she could with Naruto around. Ino knew that Naruto absolutely hated Sasuke, and conversation often got heated when his name was brought up. If Ino voiced her concerns in front of Naruto…well she wasn't sure Sasuke would live to see another day. Naruto may be an annoying doofus, but Ino couldn't deny that he was pretty badass. He was top ranked at the city's most prestigious dojo, called quite simply Konoha Dojo. Naruto's skills as a fighter were intimidating to say the least, and Ino had no doubt that he could kick Sasuke's sorry ass, if necessary.

Walking out the door, Ino's thought drifted to Sasuke. She hadn't seen him in months, which worried her all the more. He used to come out with Sakura all the time, the two were rarely seen apart. He had always seemed a little controlling, but nothing that had ever been over the top. However, several months ago, Sasuke had stopped coming around. Sakura started showing up to parties and gatherings alone, saying Sasuke hadn't felt like coming. Shortly after that, the random "accidental" injuries started. Sakura almost always had a suspicious bump, scrape, or bruise, and she always had some bullshit excuse that blamed her own clumsiness. Ino knew the signs. Boyfriend suddenly reclusive and angst-y? Injuries that practically screamed "hey, someone is hitting me!"? She was so scared for Sakura. But how do you just go up to a girl and say: "hey, is your boyfriend beating you?" Ino grimaced. She was always the first one to speak her mind and she never had trouble saying what need to be said, but this was so different. Sakura was always so goddamned happy that it was almost hard to doubt her when she told you that crushed her own fingers in the door.

This had to stop, and Ino knew it. Maybe she would just have to do this in front of Naruto. Her friend's safety could be in danger, and it was time she made a move to protect the pink haired beauty. Nodding to herself in resolution, Ino turned the keys in the ignition and pulled out of her driveway, headed to confront her friend.

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Ino arrived to see Sakura already sitting at a table, patiently waiting. The girl was adorned in overly-bright colors – as usual. She had a bright green long sleeve shirt on that matched her spring green eyes perfectly. Her jeans were a soft blue and her shoes were covered in pink and green flowers. If springtime was a person, it was Sakura.

Ino approached the table with determination. She had already noticed that Sakura looked a little worse for the wear, again. "Sakura," she said boldly upon reaching the table, "I want to talk about all these bogus injuries you've had lately, I'm not stupid, and we need to talk about this right –"

"Sakura-chan!"
Sakura was nearly tackled to the ground by an overly-enthused Uzamaki Naruto. She winced and tried to avoid crying out as the pain in her chest nearly killed her. She grimaced as she realized Ino had noticed and was watching her with fiery, angry eyes. Sakura sent her a silent plea that she hoped clearly said "not in front of Naruto." She prayed Ino would understand; if Naruto was even given the smallest suspicion that Sasuke was hurting her, he would quite possibly kill him.

Ino looked annoyed, but she gave Sakura a slight nod that eased the weight on the green eyed girl's shoulders. She was safe…for now.

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Temari scowled angrily as she searched the internet for any trace of Haruno Sakura. This girl didn't have any social media? Seriously? Temari had been doing some research online, and had discovered that isolation was a warning sign of abuse. Could it be possible that Sakura's boyfriend didn't allow her to have social media? This thought troubled Temari greatly. She had often prided herself on being a tough woman, not overly-sensitive and always doing what was necessary to get the job done. But this poor pink haired darling was distressing her quite a bit. Temari hated injustice, and to her, abuse was one of the cruelest injustices that existed. She had seen abuse with her own eyes, more often than she cared to admit, and it still haunted her…And so Temari had resolved that she would do what was necessary to help Sakura.

"What are you doing here? It's Saturday," the ever-monotone voice asked from her door.

Temari's head shot up, slightly startled by the unexpected words. "I could ask you the same question, Gaara," she responded coolly, seeing her redheaded brother leaning casually on her doorframe.

"I just thought I'd get some extra work done, I let some things slip through the cracks this week," Gaara said slowly. "I wasn't able to focus."

Temari smiled wickedly. "Did it have anything to do with the pretty little something sitting outside your office?"

Gaara blushed, he actually blushed and Temari couldn't believe her eyes. This was hilarious. "No," he snapped at her, "well actually, yes. But not for the reason you wish. She's so annoying. Constantly, asking, 'what can I do, what can I do, what can I do?' and 'thank you, Sabaku-san' or 'I can do that for you, Sabaku-san' on and on."

"You can tell her she doesn't have to call you that, you know," Temari looked at him skeptically. She herself was never one for constant formality.

Gaara pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "You're completely missing the point."
Deciding to change the subject, albeit slightly, Temari said, "I've been trying to find her online for the past hour, and it's like she barely exists. The only things I've found have been from when she was in high school. So far, all I have to go on is that she was valedictorian and she built some amazing computer and won at a really prestigious science fair when she was in the eighth grade."

"So she's like some genius or something?" Gaara said, feeling slightly more interested. But only slightly.

"I guess so, I have no idea why she's not in school. Seems like she would've been the type to go to a university," Temari had thought about this more than once.

"Eh," Gaara shrugged nonchalantly, "she seems a little goofy to me. Nothing overly special there." His words made him feel a bit guilty, he knew better than to judge a book by its cover; a good friend had taught him that.

"Gaara," Temari sighed sadly, "I know you, and I know how you are. But please, use your humanity for just a moment here. I don't care if you like that girl or not, but she is a human being, a teeny-tiny human being at that, and quite possibly the man she loves is beating her so badly that she has to go around telling people she was mugged. Take two seconds and think about what kind of person it would take to hit a girl like Sakura. She's so sweet, it's sick."

Gaara scowled. He knew that his sister was right. Imagining a man hitting a tiny woman like Sakura made him sick to his stomach.

"I'm not asking you to help me," Temari explained. "I'm just asking you to give the girl a break. If she asks you for something to do, just give her some damn papers to sort. Give her a sense of purpose."

Gaara scowled even more. "Fine," he deadpanned.

Temari smiled.

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Naruto scarfed down his oversized portion of lunch and Sakura couldn't help but smile. She had gone to school with Naruto, and in those days, he had annoyed her relentlessly. She remembered that he had had a massive crush on her until they were about sixteen years old. It was then that Naruto had met Hinata – he forgot about his love for Sakura fairly quickly after that. That had been fine by Sakura, after all, she had always had her eye on the broody, dark-haired Uchiha Sasuke…

"Earth to Sakura!" Ino's shrill voice brought Sakura flying out of her memories.

"Sorry," Sakura smiled. "I was just being nostalgic."

"Whatever," Ino rolled her eyes playfully. "How has your job been? Has your boss gotten any better? Is he –?"

"Sakura," the girls were interrupted by a suddenly serious Naruto. "What happened to your eye? And your finger? And come to think of it, are you favoring your side?"

Sakura swallowed. Looking at Ino, silently requesting back-up, she said, "I got mugged on my way home from work a few nights ago. It really wasn't a big deal."

Apparently, Ino had ignored Sakura's silent plea. "You were what?!" Ino cried in disbelief. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Naruto stood up, nearly knocking the table over. "Who was it? I'm gonna go beat the shit outta that guy! Believe it!"

"Calm down, Naruto," Sakura begged, in a desperate attempt to smooth the situation over. "I talked to the police," Sakura lied, "but I didn't see his face and there was no way to track him. There's nothing you can do, but it's okay! I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys but I knew that you'd both be worried sick."

Ino frowned, deciding to trek into dangerous territory. "Sakura, why don't you ever just drive yourself places? Sasuke can't be using the car all the time."

Sakura's face reddened, she knew that Ino was trying to trap her. "It actually hasn't been working very well lately, Sasuke's actually gone trying to get it fixed right now." Her lies were beginning to make her feel very guilty. These people were her friends and they wanted to help her, and here she was, lying through her teeth. She felt hopeless.

"Fine," Naruto grumbled, "I'll forgive you, but if anything like this happens again and you don't tell me, there will be hell to pay."

"Agreed," Sakura nodded solemnly, every bob of her head reminding her that she was a liar.

Naruto's face brightened quickly. "Oh! I forgot to tell you girls something. I proposed to Hinata yesterday!"

Grateful for the change in subject, Sakura clapped her hands excitedly. "Naruto! You didn't even tell me you were proposing! She said yes, right?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head amiably. "Hehe, oh she said yes alright! All night long –"

"Gross, cut it out, Naruto!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at the man.

"Baka," Ino mumbled, obviously still annoyed from the previous conversation.

"Who you callin' baka?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at the offending girl. Why had Sakura even brought that dope along? She was just annoying.

"Alright, quit you two!" Sakura was genuinely excited. "Have you set a wedding date yet?"

"Hehe," Naruto began characteristically, "well, that's the fun part. We're getting married in a little over three months."

"A month?!" The girl in Sakura's head did a frantic dance inside her thought bubble. What was he thinking?

"Well, ya know, we're just too excited!" Naruto was practically giggling with joy. Sakura smiled widely, truly thrilled to see Naruto so happy. A part of her own heart ached as she realized Sasuke would never be this excited to marry her. He'd probably never marry her at all.

Shaking her head to clear her negative thoughts, Sakura reached over to squeeze Naruto's hand. "If you two need any help with anything at all, please let me know! I'd love to do something to help you guys out."

"I'll let Hinata get in touch with you about that," Naruto grinned sheepishly, "I'm not so good with all that planning stuff."

Sakura rolled her eyes at the blonde boy. "Naruto, sometimes I swear you haven't changed a bit since we were twelve."

"Why would I need to change? Hehe," Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I'm already the coolest guy that you know! Huh, Sakura?"

"Sure thing, Naruto," Sakura couldn't help but smile. "Sure thing."

"You two are making my food taste bad," Ino scowled.

The blonde's angry words were met with a chorus of happy laughter.

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Temari couldn't believe he eyes, could she really be so lucky? Could it really be Haruno Sakura, walking out of a restaurant with two friends? Attempting to hide from Sakura but still keeping close enough to follow, Temari prayed that one of the pink haired girl's friends would branch off alone.

Suddenly, the blonde man she was with grabbed Sakura's hand, pulling her into a shop on the side of the road, leaving the other girl with them alone on the sidewalk. This was Temari's chance!

Running over to the side of the building so as not to be seen by Sakura through the window, she whisper-shouted, "Hey! You with the blonde hair!"

Sakura's friend snapped her head in Temari's direction. "What?"

Temari motioned for her to come closer. "It's about Sakura! I think she needs help," Temari clarified.

The friend immediately sprung over to where Temari was standing. "Do you think Sasuke is hitting her too?"

Ino was tired of beating around the bush, and so her question just fell right out. She immediately regretted it, she had no idea who this woman was and she might've just told Sakura's biggest secret. "I'm Ino, by the way." There was nothing she could do to take back her words now, and so she decided she might as well introduce herself.

Temari stretched out her arm, "Temari. And yes, Ino. That's exactly what I think."

Ino looked around conspiratorially. "Sakura is mega secretive, but I might get her to crack soon. I almost got her today." Except stupid old Naruto got in the way.

Temari reached into her purse, hunting for her business card. "There," she handed one of the cards to Ino, "that has my cell number on it. Text me later on today, would you be able to meet with me this evening?"

"Absolutely," Ino nodded vehemently. "Wait, how do you know Sakura?" Ino hadn't considered this before; she was making plans with a total stranger to talk about the intimate details of her best friend's life and she had no idea who she was even talking to.

"Oh, I actually just hired her to be my little brother's assistant," Temari said nonchalantly, "at Sabaku Inc."

Ino's jaw dropped. "Oh my god, I'm so slow. You're Temari Sabaku…wow, sorry, I just didn't realize I was in the presence of a celebrity. I guess I should've recognized you, I've seen your face on the cover of about a thousand magazines."

Temari laughed good-naturedly. "No worries there, I'm just –"

Temari immediately turned around and started walking away. Ino frowned and was about to call after her when she suddenly realized why the woman had left so abruptly. Sakura and Naruto were now walking out of the Karate supply store that the blonde boy had insisted on visiting. "Isn't it cool, Sakura?" Naruto was babbling on about something or another.

Ino quickly turned away from Temari, she didn't want to raise Sakura's suspicion. "Are you dorks quite finished?"

"Hey!" Naruto folded his arms. "You're the dork, dork."

Sakura sighed, looking at her watch briefly. "I can't take you two anywhere, can I?"

"Oh shoot!" Naruto called out, "I gotta go guys, I just remembered that I'm supposed to be meeting Hinata, hehe! I'll call you tomorrow Sakura!" The blonde haired boy immediately began jogging away, but Sakura was unfazed by his energy. She sure as hell was used to it by now.

Ino spun on her with ridiculous speed. "We need to talk."

"Ino I –" Sakura tried to speak.

"We need to talk about Sasuke."

Sakura felt herself pale. "Oh my god, Sasuke." Sakura remembered that he didn't know she was gone and that he could be back at any time. "Ino, I really have to get home." She tried to cover up her "pale" moment with calm words.

"Are you serious? You're not just walking away from me here, Sakura. I'm freaking out for you. Just tell me straight: is he hurting you?"

Sakura schooled her features into a surprised gasp. "Like hitting me? Oh god no. He's been having some anger issues lately, if I'm being honest. He's been yelling a lot and he gets mad when I'm not home in time, but we're working through it."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Oh please, Sakura! Do I look stupid? I haven't even seen Sasuke in months. All of a sudden you're not driving the car and you're always showing up with new bumps and scrapes and stupid excuses to go with them!"

Sakura began to get frustrated. She didn't have time for Ino's nosiness right now! "Are you calling me a liar?"

"I'm calling you scared. Sakura, I get it. I'm sure you're confused and scared and I'm sure you have no idea what to do, but let me help you. I completely understand-"

"Stop saying that you understand!" Sakura's heart was racing. "You have no idea what you're talking about!" The pink haired girl stormed away from her friend, wanting nothing more than to spill her guts and tell Ino everything. But she couldn't do that. She couldn't because Sasuke would be so angry. She couldn't because that would mean the end of her relationship and she hadn't even decided if that's what she wanted yet.

"Sakura, wait!" she heard Ino yell, but she didn't turn around.

"Ino, just trust me! I'll call you tomorrow!" Sakura yelled over her shoulder, needing to get away.

Ino yelled something else, but Sakura couldn't hear her anymore.

She was too far away.

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"When I confronted her about it, she literally ran away," Ino sighed, swirling the creamer around in her hot cup of coffee.

"Well that's definitely not a good sign," Temari set her mouth into a hard line. "Sounds like we're going to have to be really subtle about this. How much do you know about her boyfriend?"

"Plenty," Ino replied, "I went to school with Sakura and Sasuke. When we were kids, Sakura and I were both absolutely obsessed with him, along with most of the other girls our age. I didn't realize it until I got older, but Sasuke has always been a completely self-obsessed jerk. His family is mega rich, but he had some massive falling out with them a little while ago."

"Do you think that he could actually hurt Sakura?" Temari asked carefully.

Ino sighed. "I never would've thought that he could, but now…They've been together for five years, and I've never seen Sakura like this before. Honestly, I'm embarrassed that I've waited so long to really look into this. It's just so personal…even though she's my best friend, I don't know how to just walk up to her and say, 'hey, is Sasuke abusing you?'"

"I definitely think that we're going to have to be subtle about this," Temari mused. "Has she always been timid?"

"Absolutely not," Ino shook her head quickly. "Sakura used to be much more…gutsy. She definitely has her shy moments, but around her friends she was stubborn and hard-headed. She's always been crushingly optimistic but other than that, her personality has changed quite a bit. Her recent submissiveness is another indicator that has me worried. She's normally so…just Sakura."

"Well, one thing I can do at least is to try to make her work life a little easier. I'll really crack down on Gaara and make sure he's nice to her," Temari said determinedly. She really meant that, Gaara would lighten up.

Ino couldn't help but laugh a little bit at that.

"What?" Temari asked, confused.

"Well," said Ino, leaning forward and looking around secretively. "I probably shouldn't mention this, but Sakura knows I can't keep a secret, so what the hell. I think our pink haired beauty might have a little crush on your brother. Not that she's said anything to me, but she has told me that she thinks he's attractive and she blushes to her toes whenever she mentions him."

"Really?" Temari let the word drag out, sitting back in her seat slightly. "Well that certainly is interesting. Gaara has been acting a little strange as well, although I'm not quite sure what it is yet. I think it's safe to say he either likes her or hates her, but I'm positive that he himself has no idea what he's feeling."

"So, anyway," Ino said, circling the conversation back around to Sakura. "What do you think we should do? We need to be subtle but we also need to do something soon. If Sakura is being abused, we have to get her out of there as soon as humanly possible."

"Agreed," Temari nodded. "Is there anyone else we should include in this?

Ino sighed, "I should probably give Naruto a call, I guess he deserves to know about this. He loves Sakura like a sister and he'd do anything for her." Ino pulled out her cell phone.

Upon hearing the name, something clicked in Temari's head. "Naruto!" she exclaimed suddenly. "That's the guy you two were with? I was too far away to see him clearly!"

Ino frowned. "You know Naruto?"

"He's only Gaara's best friend!" Temari explained. "That's crazy! Looks like Gaara and Sakura already have a connection."

"Maybe Naruto could help the two of them to get along, the guy has always been weirdly amazing at making friendships work," Ino admitted reluctantly.

Temari smiled widely, "Ino, that's a brilliant idea."

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Sakura was relieved to find that Sasuke still wasn't home. She wondered where the hell he had gone, he'd never been away for this long. Sakura couldn't help but wonder what he did when he took off like this. Did he visit friends? 'Or is he cheating on you?' the voice in Sakura's head echoed. She shook the thought from her mind, no way. There was just no way! Was there?

As if in an answer to her question, Sasuke came stumbling through the front door.

"Sasuke, where have you been? I was starting to get worried!" Sakura jogged over to her boyfriend, not sure if she should be excited or fearful.

It was then that she smelled the perfume. Was she imagining things?

"Sasuke, who were you with?" Sakura felt a little bit of her old boldness seeping through. If Sasuke really thought he could go running around with some other woman, he was crazy. Cheating had always been Sakura's line.

"A friend," Sasuke snapped, attempting to walk around the small girl in front of him.

Sakura stepped to block his path, her heart beating wildly. What the hell was she doing? She saw Sasuke start to grind his teeth. That was a bad sign.

"Sakura, move," Sasuke growled. "It's none of your business."

"Um, hi, my name's Sakura, I'm your girlfriend, nice to fucking meet you," Sakura stuck her hand out in defiance to him. Seeing her friends today had given her some strength, and she was using every ounce of it now.

"Karin," Sasuke smirked maliciously.

Sakura was taken aback. "W-what?"

"You asked me who I was with," Sasuke shrugged, "her name is Karin."

Sakura felt the tears spring to her eyes and she fought to control them. "You're just going to openly admit that you're cheating on me?"

"Come on, Sakura! What did you expect? You can't think that I'm going to confine myself to do. You're ridiculous, not to mention way too fucking skinny. You may need me Sakura, but I need much more than you. Now please, just leave me alone, I'm tired," Sasuke again tried to push past her.

"No," Sakura had no idea what she was doing, but she knew she would be paying for it.

"What?" Sasuke's eyes gleamed dangerously. Sakura swore his eyes looked almost red sometimes, like they could see everything.

"I've put up with a lot from you Sasuke, but I'm not putting up with this," Sakura fumed, "Promise me you'll stop seeing her."

Sasuke released a surprised laugh. "Or what, Sakura? What will you do? Leave me? We both know that you won't do that."

Sakura bowed her head, defeat washing over her as it always did. What could she do? How could she even begin to leave him? Sasuke had been her life for so long; she relied on him and she didn't know why. He surely didn't give her a reason to. She felt him push past her roughly, knocking her into the end table.

Sakura didn't feel like she could move. Her feet were rooted to the spot, her mind whirling in endless circles around her head. Sasuke. Cheating. Karin. Cheating. The words bounced of the inside of her skull and got all jumbled up together. She could feel tears falling down her cheeks, but she did nothing to stop them. Sasuke was hurting her in a brand new way now. Her heart felt officially broken.

Sasuke made her go to bed with him that night. When he was finished, Sakura felt him tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "You know that I love you, Sakura," she felt his hot breath tickle her ear and she was assaulted with a mix of love and revulsion. "Do you love me?" he asked her, a hint of real softness in his voice.

"Of course I do."

Well, now we see that not only is Sasuke an abusive bastard, but he's a cheating bastard as well. Whatever will Sakura do?

Could a certain redhead prove to be of some assistance? ;)

If you wouldn't mind leaving me a review to tell me what you think so far, that'd be great 3 It really encourages me to write more if you guys like it!