Stuck in a Doll

By: Xmarksthespot

Disclaimer: I do not own.

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Chapter 2.

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"S-Sasuke-kun?" She repeated the name, refusing to let the toy leave her sight. Her brows furrowed, as she allowed her knees to drop so that she was kneeling next to the struggling bear; its voice rang through her head repetitively, and she couldn't let herself forget it. But after a momentary lapse, she shook her head – it couldn't be him.

But she still fixated on its capability to speak. Sakura extended her nervous arms, fingers just inches away from the doll, who refused to give up on its escape. Her lips slowly parted, breathing in fresh air to keep herself from hyperventilating.

"S-speak," she hesitantly commanded, but the bear didn't listen; its attention merely focused on its injured leg. Green eyes wearily trailed over to it, noticing the cotton bits falling out of the limb.

Finally realizing the pain it was in, Sakura held the bear with one hand, while the other carefully took the shuriken out. She felt empathy for it when a small, yet painful gasp escaped from the bear's mouth.

Carefully, Sakura brought it up towards her face, so that her intense, apple-green eyes could study her bear's ebony eyes – she flinched when she realized the sparkle she had noted before was gone, leaving two dull orbs in place.

Slowly, her sight trailed down below where her fingers had hold, and towards the stuff animal's knees. Threads of cotton poked out of the tear, and the cream coloured fur were loosened by the weapon. She looked back up to its face again.

"Can you talk – please?" She paused for a moment, rubbing her fingers gently on the damaged leg. After a long silence, she continued, "Does it hurt?"

For a few minutes, the kunoichi had thought about giving up, shaking her head at her insanity – it was a bear she was talking to! Nevertheless, her peripheral vision caught the bear's hesitant actions, followed by a shrug.

Her brows furrowed, as she stared deeper into the bear's face. "It... doesn't hurt?" She guessed, hoping for more reassurance. Her face leaned in a little more, only to gasp when she saw its head move back away from her's.

Somewhat saddened by its distant moves, Sakura got up, though kept the bear in her hands. She made her way to the kitchen where she sprinkled some water on the blush covered arm to clean it, and turned the tap off.

She forced the bear to sit down next to her. Whenever it tired to move, the girl would place her palm gently onto its back, which prevented it from doing anything. She would also frown every once in a while, as she prepared, because it still refused to speak.

"Hold still," she told the doll, grabbing it and placing it on her lap. She steadily held a needle in her hand, but before it could reach the bear's leg, said toy flinched.

"What the hell?!" The voice accidentally said, and the owner of those words quickly jumped – or attempted to, at least – from Sakura's lap, only to be caught by her before it could touch air at the bottom of its feet.

She noted its intense stare back at her, and played its voice in her head, like before; she wasn't as confident in who it was. Instead of worrying about it though, Sakura's expression afterwards was mixed with concern, and amusement. She let out a giggle, which clearly annoyed the bear even more.

"It's not going to hurt," she assured, "it's like getting stitches at the hospital – I hope – and if you've ever gotten them." Before she knew it, she started rambling to herself, wondering if it would be similar to getting stitches; she knew that the process was the same, but considering her patient this time was a bear, would there be any differences?

Sakura looked back down, realizing the bear held its leg towards her, entrusting her with it. Smiling, the girl placed it back onto her lap, and carefully pinned the needle through its leg, satisfied that not only did the bear not try to move, or run away, but that the thread she had matched with the fur.

As she wove the needle through the leg, Sakura decided to speak. "So, apparently you're a boy," she casually stated. She knew that the bear could see her amusing grin, but only grinned wider to annoy it. "It's a shame, cause I was planning on naming you Rose Petal, or Princess Cutie-Pie," she teased, and saw its frustrated expression.

Upon finishing the last stitch, Sakura spoke up again, "So if you don't want me to call you that, why don't you tell me your real name?"

It didn't speak.

Vexed, Sakura quickly tied the final knot, and held the bear up to her face. "Look, I know you can talk, so why don't you?!" She started shaking it violently, and growled when the bear held up its arms to cover its view from her. Disappointed that the bear refused to admit who it really was, Sakura frowned. "Fine," she concluded, "Rose Petal, it is."

Eventually, the woman let out a sigh in defeat, getting up with the bear still in her grasp and setting it onto her desk. She gazed at it – him – worryingly, and with a softer tone, said, "See if you can walk."

She watched as he stuck his bottom up in the air first, using his arms to push himself up, and couldn't help but smile – the way he got up was similar to a toddler's! He wobbled on his feet for several seconds before kicking one leg out to take the first step.

Quickly, she held out her hand, so that when he fell, he wouldn't hit the hard table.

"Damn it!" He cursed again.

Sakura frowned. "Seriously," she yelled, pushing the bear back up onto his feet. "Do you only know how to curse?" Again, she was ignored, so the young woman decided to let it go. "Try again," she said, as her fingers hesitantly went back and forth, unsure if she should hold onto him or not. Nevertheless, her hands were pushed back by the bear itself.

The medic watched as the bear stumbled on his feet and fell on his face again.

"Fu –"

"If you're planning to swear, I'm just going to sew your mouth shut."

Again, she watched the bear push himself back up, and insisted on helping him in the process, but was once again, pushed away. She frowned as she never liked being tossed aside like some useless person.

Suddenly, her pager went off, and the jade eyes trailed towards it. "Darn, it's the hospital," she muttered to herself. Quickly grabbing her things, Sakura headed straight for the bedroom window. She aggressively shut it tight, locking it, and pulled the blinds down just in case.

"It's too bad you don't have thumbs. Otherwise, you'd be able to get through this," she mused. "And just so you know, blinds are a safety hazard to children because they get tangled in the knots. The same thing will happen to you too, if you try to move this." She jokingly pretended to be a mime, holding out an imaginary knotted rope, and slipping her head through the hole. Following that, she pretended to pull the end of the rope and visually showed the circumstances if he were to get caught – it would be like a suicide case.

When the bear made no response to her joke, she merely winked at it. Sakura made sure the bear was standing upright. "Good luck, Rose Petal," she teased and shut her bedroom door.

XxXx

Annoying, he thought.

Sasuke was sure that he heard Sakura jamming a chair against the door, making sure that there would be no way he could escape. His face lowered, and onyx eyes narrowed towards his stitched up leg. Even before he received the injury, he could barely walk properly, and now with the new wound, he wasn't sure how he would manage.

"At least it doesn't sting anymore," he muttered, recalling the feeling of torn flesh when the shuriken first ripped through the false leg.

Refusing to give up, he pushed himself again, taking a step slowly with his healthier leg, and then with the other. He sighed in relief, since he didn't fall on his face again. Despite his accomplishment, the toy quickly slipped and fell off the wooden desk and onto the carpeted floor – he was actually thankful that it wasn't hardwood.

Getting up, his eyes aimed forward. Curious as to what he was seeing, he leaned a little forward, reaching out one arm to pull out what he was seeing underneath the bed; it was a picture of him as a twelve year old genin.

But it wasn't something he was planning on celebrating, as there were multiple pin holes that marred his photograph's face. Sasuke studied the picture for a few minutes before looking back down underneath Sakura's bed. He found several other pictures of him, gulping and feeling more nervous with each one, and noted that they were either torn or had similar holes that ripped through the faces of each one.

Now that he was a little terrified of the owner of the apartment, he wasn't sure whether he should continue on searching underneath her bed, or even consider the fact that it might be best to tell her who he was.

He shook his head. Sasuke refused to be worried, especially of Sakura. He continued to look underneath the bed and found multiple pictures. However, they weren't of him. Rather, they were of Naruto, and Kakashi.

Similarly, they had pinned holes through them, but clearly not as much as the one on his own photos. He used both of his hands and managed to flip to the back of the one photo of him. In bolded, black marker, it wrote: JERK.

Sasuke let out a sigh, dropping the pictures back down onto the floor. He investigated further to find a dart board and some darts.

"So this is what Sakura does when she gets mad at people."

Now that he was freaked out by what lurked under the bed, the Uchiha pushed himself back up, getting used to the walking; his leg still ached though.

Throughout that day, he managed to walk, and even run throughout her bedroom. Sasuke would often think about revealing his identity to his ex-teammate, possibly giving him a greater chance of escaping the current form he was now residing in. He frowned at the thought of what might be happening with his real body at that time – has someone found him? Was he being eaten by wild animals? Had some random girl discover him in his state of peaceful slumber and decided to molest him?

He shivered at the thought.

Unfortunately, he also knew what would happen to him if Konoha were to find his body, which they most likely would if he were to tell Sakura who he was.

Extending his arms, he stared at the paws in silence. Clearly, he knew that being forced back in Konoha, facing criminal charges and years worth being detained in prison would be a lot better than trapped inside a children's toy. Unless, that is, Sakura decided to kill him right then and there inside the bear. After all, she obviously had weapons on her, as well as the dart board under her bed.

Nonetheless, this lead to another theory: would Sasuke return to his original body if he were to die in the bear's body? After a moment's thought, he decided not to take the chance.

"What if..." Sasuke's head popped back up, noting that Team 7's photo was still framed and sitting on her night stand. "What if Sakura still likes me?" His mouth slowly parted as he imagined the once obsessed fangirl clinging onto his bear-like form, and refusing to let him go, making him prisoner for as long as she lived.

Sasuke knew that that theory was most plausible, so he (as fast as he could) made his way to the end of her bed. Grabbing onto her blanket, he managed to pull himself up onto the mattress.

"I have to get out of here... Before Sakura tries to feed me candy, or touch me, or-or," he started listing reasons through a panicked voice, climbing over the headboard and setting his eyes on the window blinds. "Or try to talk to me!"

But as Sakura warned him earlier, the arrogant man ended up getting caught in the curtain's knots, resulting him swinging around in midair.

"Damn, damn, damn," he swore, not bothering to lower his voice, or stop his continuous cursing rampage. Swinging his arms back and forth, Sasuke tried to sway his way out of the rope, but it didn't work.

For the next amount of time, what felt like hours, Sasuke merely stayed still, hovering in the air and waiting for Sakura to come back. Most of the time, he felt like Naruto, recalling the time when the blond would get caught in Kakashi's most simple traps.

Suddenly, there was someone rummaging on the other side of the wall. He jerked his head to the side, so that he could see right side up, and saw the bedroom door open, as well as Sakura. He could see that Sakura tiredly gazed back at him in his ridiculous state, and smiling afterward.

She only grew bigger, as she approached him, silently loosening the knots and holding onto him securely before she placed him back down gently on her shelf.

"I told you you'd get caught in the ropes," she faintly said. Following that, the exhausted girl dropped onto her bed as she did just that morning.

Despite the dark room, Sasuke could still make his way through the room. He curiously jumped from the shelf and onto the pillow which Sakura didn't use. He knew that she was aware of his presence standing right next to her face, but didn't understand why she didn't make a move.

Being so close to the girl, he could hear her breaths as strong wind-like air currents, as well as sounds of sobs.

He took another step closer, realizing that he had gotten the hang of walking again. Sasuke didn't understand why Sakura was crying. In fact, he never understood why she cried most times. However, the lump in the pit of his gut forced him to move closer, and he extended a hand, which patted her head.

Sasuke could feel her smile.

"I guess I was wrong then," the girl said, and it was as if she wasn't trying to annoy or ring through his ears, since her voice was fairly soft. "You couldn't be Sasuke," she concluded.

He was taken back immediately, shocked that a mere gesture could convince her otherwise that he was not who she thought he was.

An earthquake-like rumble knocked the balance off his feet as the medic got up. "Sorry," she sniffed, "I guess I was just really tired. Anyway, are you hungry?" She asked, removing herself from the mattress. "I'll make something for you– "

"Sakura," he said out loud. His eyes penetrated through the darkness, knowing that emerald ones were staring straight back in shock. There was something that motivated him to do these actions, and truly, he wasn't sure if he was going to regret it or not; he wasn't used to being so unsure about his actions before, but he continued anyway, "It's me. Sasuke."

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TBC

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys!

P.S. I'm personally not liking Rose Petal as a name cause it doesn't really suit the appearance of the bear, so any suggestions? Maybe something that is similar to Sasuke's name, maybe by the first syllable? I'm considering Saranghae which is Korean for "I love you" I believe.