Disclaimer: Naruto's not mine, though I wish it was. . .
A/n: Please read the author's notes at the end because I might say something interesting there.
A Place We Call Home
Chapter 3: A Liberated Weekend 2
"Please take a seat." Said Sakura as they entered the house. Sasuke scanned the house for any sign of her parents. "Oh yeah, my parents aren't here, they're on a business trip kinda thing." Sakura said as though reading his mind. The raven-haired lad nodded and sank into the cream-colored couch and folded his hands together that it covered the lower half of his unexpressive face. Silence filled the whole living room until Sakura spoke. "Oh, I forgot! What would you like to drink?"
Sasuke looked at her intently before answering. "Plain water." He said before averting his attention to a plant, glaring the poor creature to death.
"Are you sure that's want you want? I mean how about some juice or perhaps some tea?" Sakura asked, surprised at how plain Sasuke's drink would be. No answer. Nervously, Sakura spoke: "Uhm… Okay, I get it… please wait here until I get some water." And she went to the kitchen.
Sasuke heaved a sigh the moment Sakura left. He felt uncomfortable inside Sakura's house. The house was neat and well furnished, but still, it made him feel uneasy… It reminded him of his childhood. His childhood that he thought was average, until he witnessed something that shattered his normal life.
::flashback::
"Mom, Dad, I'm home." Sasuke greeted as he kicked his shoes off and entered the house. He walked in the hallway, looking for his mom and dad. He was excited in coming home because he can't wait to show his parents his A-graded test paper. He neared the kitchen when he heard his parents' voice conversing. By the tone of their voices, it seemed to be something of important matter, and Sasuke decided not to interrupt them. He hid behind the door and listened to them.
"I can't take this anymore! I can't pretend that we're one happy couple all the time!" came his Dad's voice. Sasuke was shocked to hear his father shout like that. He never raised his voice like that even if he was really mad. 'What's going on?' Sasuke asked himself.
"You can't do this! I'm not asking you to do this for me, but for the children's sake! Don't ruin their lives! Don't!" her voice was being muffled by her sobs. Sasuke wanted to run into the kitchen and comfort his mom, but his legs wouldn't allow him.
"That's it! I'm going to leave this family for good! And don't expect me to come back! I never loved you in the first place! You know I just did it because our parents have betrothed us! But now that they're all dead, I have no reason to stay with you! So fuck off, bitch!" his dad yelled. Upon hearing his father's words, anger boiled in Sasuke's blood. How dare him to say hurtful words to his mother like that?!
"But the children! Don't leave the children! They need you!!!" his mother yelled at his dad's retreating back. She will do anything to stop him from leaving. Anything.
His father glared at his mom. "The children?! Who would want to stay with two brats like them? Who would want to stay with a son who's a drug addict? Tell me, who?!" he bellowed. His mom was puzzled. None of her sons is a drug addict. Itachi is a president of one of the school clubs and Sasuke's on the top his class. How could one of them be a drug addict? "Itachi!" his dad declared. "He's the one I'm talking about. You thought he's always at school and doing stuff about that stupid club of his, well you're dead wrong. Last week I saw him hitting pot with his bastard friends! Who would want a son like that?!"
Sasuke's mom shook her head. "No… you're a liar. You're lying…" she whispered, repeating the words over and over again. "Don't tell me lies about my children… I'll kill you." She said.
"Then go ahead! I'm not scared of a fucking bitch like you who can't accept that her son is an-" but he was cut off with a scream—his own scream. Sasuke's ears were pierced by this horrifying sound. 'What happened?" Sasuke thought as he found his strength and entered the kitchen. The sight in front of him made his knees weak and he collapsed on the floor. There, lay his father; bathing in his own blood and his mother, sitting beside the corpse, smoothing its hair while a bloody knife lay beside her.
"Sasuke… you're home… Look at your father… he won't leave us anymore… He will leave us no more…" she said with an insane smile plastered on her face, bloodied by the specks of blood from her victim. "Look at him Sasuke… look at your father…" she said, approaching Sasuke who was inching away from her. "Why, Sasuke? Why are you avoiding me?" his mother asked.
'She's gone mad…' Sasuke thought as he mustered all of his strength to stand up and run away from the scene
After that incident, his mother was taken to a mental institution, but she died there four years ago. Itachi on the other side stopped schooling and went with his bastard friends. He doesn't know where his fucking brother is now… like he cared for a brother like him. And him? He was adopted by one of his aunts in his mother's side, but he left them when he was fifteen and lived on his own while he rented his own apartment. He used his parent's trifling amount in the bank to buy a motorbike that he used in joining drag races that had put food in his table. Good thing that he had an educational plan so he did not need to worry about his tuition fees.
::end of flashback::
"Sasuke-kun, sorry it took me a while to return. It's because I took this along." Sakura said, breaking Sasuke's train of thoughts. 'kun?' Sasuke asked himself. He looked at the thing Sakura was holding—a first aid kit. "Well, let me see the wound so I can clean it." Sakura said as she gently took Sasuke's arm. The contact sent electricity thought the lad's body but not from pain. He hastily pulled the arm away from her. "Oops, that must've hurt, I'm sorry!" Sakura said with an apologetic look in her jade eyes. She went to take his arm again.
"No, it's not necessary." Sasuke declared, turning away from her. He wasn't used to have someone taking care of him. It felt kinda… annoying. Yes, annoying.
"Please, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura pleaded as tucked a stray strand of pink hair behind her ear. "You might get an infection or something and I wouldn't forgive myself if that happened. So please, please, please, pretty please let me take care of your wound." She whined.
"Alright…!" Sasuke snapped as he swung his arm back for Sakura to take. 'So you'll shut up.' He added mentally. Sakura grinned to see that Sasuke finally gave in. she took his arm and cleaned it. Sasuke on he other hand stared at his arm which was being cleaned at the moment. Unconsciously, his gaze trailed from his arm to the pair of hands cleaning it, then up to Sakura's calm face focused on her task. He stared at her intently and realized that she was… beautiful. 'Damnit, what am I thinking?!' he scolded himself and averted his gaze to something other that the female in his company.
"There! I'm done! Don't hurt yourself like that again. Anyway, would you mind if I ask you a question?" Sakura declared and began to pack up the first aid kit that lay on the table beside the couch they were sitting on.
"You're already asking a question." Sasuke answered with a smirk that made Sakura turn away to hide her blush. 'Why do all girls hide their face when I do that?' Sasuke mused at himself. "What is it?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm just curious why you drove into our pavement and crashed against the trash can." Sakura said. Grinning, she closed the first aid kit and put it atop the table beside the unattended glass of water and Sasuke's helmet. She waited for Sasuke's answer.
"Oh that." Sasuke began. He almost forgot his reason why he was driving his motorcycle that early in the morning. "Something's wrong with my brakes so I decided to take it to the shop, but halfway to the trip there, they broke down and I lost control." He explained. He badly needed to change his brakes because he had a race this midnight and he can't afford to lose. "Okay, thanks for the bandage." He declared as he stood up and went to exit the house when Sakura suddenly spoke.
"Hey, can I go with you to the motorcycle shop?" Sakura inquired. She stood up and put her hands behind her back as she crossed her fingers, wishing that Sasuke would comply.
Sasuke looked at her with a puzzled look on his face. "Why would you want to go there?" he asked the pink-haired girl in front of him. Sakura stiffened, but not enough for Sasuke to notice. She raked her brain for a nice reason, though the truth is just she wanted to ride along with Sasuke on his motorcycle since she haven't ridden one yet.
"I've run out of cardboard. Yes, cardboard and I'd want to buy some at the bookstore beside the motorcycle shop." Sakura answered. She congratulated herself for such a good excuse.
Sasuke titled his head and stared at Sakura. He realized that he hasn't even started his project—good thing Sakura reminded him. "Okay." He said. Sakura yipped in delight. She lifted the receiver of the phone so that when her parents call, they would just think that she was talking to someone then grabbed Sasuke's helmet and ran out of the door, along with him.
Tsuzuku
A/n: Hello! I'm back along with this new chapter of APWCH!!! I'm so sorry for the late update, but we had out exams!!! Hope you'll understand!!!
Responses for chapter 2 reviews:
LoStkOKo-sAmA28: Just a little… Pasaway pasaway!!! Hope you like this chap! Thanks for the review!
BlackBelt: Thanks for the review! Hope you like this chapter buddy!
mad-killer-bunnies-alert: Hmmm… Sasu/Saku/Neji triangle? I don't know.. I'll try to put that if I can fit it in the plot! Thanks for the review!
Britney Rock: Whoa I'm flattered! Here's the update you've been waiting for! Hope you like it! Thanks for the review!
Ichigo Engine: thanks! I'll try not to rush it! Promise! Thanks for the review!
Jenny: Thanks for the review!
ToMoYo129: Tomoyo-chan!!! Yup, I'm a Filipina. Don't you remember me? Oops… I forgot that I changed my pen name. By the way, I'm formerly known as Joal Asakura!!! Waaaah! Tomoyo-chan!!! Thanks for the review!
RemoteD: She a real bitch! Hehee!!! I'll try to improve on that! Thanks for the review!
AnimEvivvErz: Yipee! Here's the next chap! Thanks for the review!
dark angel: Yeah, those parents make the SasuSaku romance hard to spark up! But don't worry though! Thanks for reviewing!
kira-924: Neh, a kiss may seem too rushed don't you think? Anyway, it will come in later chapters!!! Thanks for reviewing!
Shujouteki Kumo: Thanks for the review!!! SasuSaku rules!!!
Blitzballkat: I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for the review!!!
UNKIND: Yes, I'm a Filipina!!! Thanks!!! Thanks for the review!
Stay tuned to the next chapter!!!
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