A/N: Okay, the next chapter. I am still plowing ahead through my numerous projects on but I am making slow headway. Thus, the slow updates. An overactive imagination sucks.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Naruto. Duh.

Chapter 3:

"Truly, to tell lies is not honorable;

but when the truth entails tremendous ruin,

to speak dishonorably is pardonable."

-Sophocles (469 BC – 406 BC), Creusa

I reached my apartment thirty minutes later still feeling extraordinarily guilty. I opened the door and came face to face with the boy and suspected murderer that I had brought home the night before. He stared at me and I stared back. Then he did something I did not expect. He blinked at me a little owlishly. It was actually kind of funny.

His hair was as unkempt as it had been the night before and he was still just as pale. The only new thing that I noticed about him was that he had three ear-piercings in his right ear.

Smiling at him as benignly as I could muster, I closed the door behind me and walked further inside. The boy seemed to tense at this and slowly backed away from me which startled me a little. It must have shown on my face because the boy looked at me funny. I blinked at him and then started to giggle slightly after attempting to prevent myself from laughing at him. Well, there went that idea. "I'm not going to hurt you, you know."

The boy only blinked. There was no response from him which wasn't the least bit shocking. Who was I expecting? William Shakespeare? I actually started to wonder if he could even speak. Maybe he was like Neji, Gaara, and Shino who only spoke in monosyllables. That would explain the lack of response from him. And if that wasn't the case, I was in for one hell of a ride. His temper was liable to match his lack of conversation. And those three were scary when they were mad.

I just rolled my eyes, walked passed him while inwardly trembling in fear, and dropped my bag by the table. I nearly jumped out of my skin when he actually said something. "Who…are you?" he asked.

My mouth fell open despite my vain efforts at keeping it closed. He actually spoke to me! Holy BBQ sauce Batman! More like, "Holy shit!" I don't see anyone correcting me though.

I stared at him in astonishment. He was asking me? I should be asking him! He was staying in my home! I had literally dragged him all the way here and ruined one of my shirts. That was really very irritating to hear. "I should be asking you," I replied while attempting not to explode, "you are in my apartment."

The only response out of him was him blinking again and slowly moving away from me. He was strange alright. Was he afraid of people getting close to him or something? Or was he deathly afraid of germs? Did I have a disease?

'Well, I should at least introduce myself first then if he isn't going to say a word.'

Hopefully that would dissolve the awkward atmosphere that seemed to have taken an unnaturally strong hold over my apartment suddenly. "My name is Haruno Sakura," I said. "And your name is?"

There was another moment of awkward silence. The boy's onyx eyes met mine, and I swallowed nervously. There was a cold resiliency in his eyes filled with unbridled fury and hatred. That was just a little unnerving. Well, if he wanted to tell me then he could tell me. I wasn't about to intrude into his ice block. Even though I did wonder what made him the way he was. I was very aware of the fact that he was going to be abnormally tightlipped about that subject since he was having difficulties in even telling me his own name. Quelle surprise.

"Sasuke…Uchiha Sasuke," the boy replied. The name seemed very familiar to me. Where had I heard of him? He was a complete stranger though. There should be no reason why I had heard of him. That was just even more unnerving. This teen had an extraordinary talent in scaring the living daylights out of people and I was no exception even though I was desperately trying not to show it. Just between you and I, I'm pretty sure I failed miserably. But I could not rid myself of the feeling that I had read his name somewhere before. I just couldn't remember where.

I remembered I had…well…ruined some of his clothing. Silently, I hoped that he wasn't going to be furious at me for doing it. After all they were just clothes. "Yeah Sakura…just clothes," my inner self reminded me in a none too subtle sarcastic tone. My eye twitched involuntarily. I probably looked a little crazy to him.

"Well, Sasuke-san, I guess I owe you new clothes," I said in a nervous voice. He blinked at me again and I was relieved. However, I hadn't expected him to ask me why. I guess I overlooked that.

"Why?" he asked in a rather condescending tone.

"Well, I had to cut them off when I was treating your injury," I explained. The boy's eye twitched in response. 'Oh shit.'

I noticed his irritated expression and laughed a little sheepishly. Well, I couldn't take him shopping since there would be outright pandemonium. I guess I was going to have to go in his place.

I left the room to grab my wallet since I didn't carry it with to school and back. "I'm going to buy you some new clothes so you'll have something to wear while you're staying here."

Sasuke looked at me with a confused expression. He was obviously thinking about something. "Who said I was going to stay with you?"

Go figure.

"Do you have anywhere to go?" I asked, wondering if he had any family in Kyoto. The answer was probably going to be no, and if I let him leave he would be arrested for murder. And call me loony, but I didn't believe he actually committed those crimes.

"No."

I know I didn't look surprised. Sasuke told me later on that he was already used to the surprise people expressed when they found out he had nowhere to go. "Then that settles it," I told him smiling. "You're staying with me. If you went outside, you'd be arrested in a matter of seconds anyway. My parents live overseas so it won't be a problem for you to hide out here. Besides I won't be alone anymore."

I saw the boy's face darken at the mention of family. That made me even more curious about him. If something happened to his family then that was truly a cause for concern. He may have been able to find another person to live with though instead of possibly resorting to a life of crime. "Is something wrong?" I asked, genuinely concerned.

"Nothing…nothing's wrong," he lied. I nodded my head, deciding to let it go. I knew that he had lied. If his expression was any indication then whatever had happened to them or between them was very bad. When he wanted to tell me what happened to him, he would tell me. If he would ever tell me. At least that was what I thought.

"Well, I'm off to go find you some new clothes," I announced, turning and heading for the door. I could feel Sasuke's eyes on me and his confusion. Why was he so confused?

"Why are you doing all of this?" Sasuke asked.

I stared at him as I turned the doorknob. It wasn't obvious? Well, it was because I couldn't leave a person injured out on the street which you all know. I gave him a tiny smile. "Because you needed help," I replied.

I would later learn that those were the words that caused the realization that I wasn't going to kill him or turn him in. He later told me that in a way, those were the words that saved him from the hunters.

I ran off towards the convenience store to tell my boss I wasn't going to come in tonight, leaving a bewildered Sasuke standing there in my apartment and very confused as to why this girl was helping him when I just could have left him there to die. He never did figure it out, the idiot.

I was done an hour later. I had done a bit of scrounging and looked for the best prices since I didn't want to strain my bank account. I also hoped he would like what I had chosen for him. Everything was all black, with some blues thrown in. It seemed like his style.

Suddenly a voice broke me out of my musings making me jump. It was a very familiar voice which I had come to associate with loathing and my own embarrassment at having been a fool. You guessed it, it was none other than Hiashi.

"Sakura-chan, what are you doing out here?" he asked.

"Oh, Hiashi-kun!" I replied, deliberately not answering his question. 'Shit. He saw me.' Frantically, I wondered what I was going to say to him. I already knew that there was nothing I could say that would get me out of trouble.

Hiashi laughed lightly, and that laugh sent shivers up my spine. I was in trouble. "Sakura-chan, you didn't answer my question." I realized with a sinking feeling that he wasn't going to let me off lightly this time around. I was really in for it the next time I was alone with him.

I paused. How should I put this exactly? 'I'm sorry, I've just finished purchasing new clothes for a suspected serial killer who is so much more handsome than you are.' Or there was always: 'I was picking up some things for a friend of mind. They needed help with something.' Yeah, any of those excuses was going to fail miserably.

Hiashi stared at me waiting for me to answer him. I opened my mouth to say something and nothing came out. I was going to have to come up with a lie and fast, otherwise he wasn't going to leave me alone. The sooner I got away from him, the better.

How to explain the reasons why I was holding shopping bags filled with male clothing. There was the truth or there was a lie. I chose the lie because then Hiashi would probably leave me alone for a little while longer and ignore the fact that I had lied to his face. Of course, this strategy would come back to bite me in the butt later on.

Thinking fast, I tried to think up a story to explain why I was holding those bags and the result was a story that sounded extremely untrue since the clothing didn't look like anything a family member of mine would be wearing. "I….I was shopping my cousin!" I lied after a moment as I remembered the aunt that lived in Osaka with her son. The two never came to visit the us in Kyoto so I had never actually met him nor did I know what the hell he looked like. So, it was a pretty good excuse. I just couldn't tell Sasuke.

Hiashi didn't seem convinced, knowing by the amount of time it took me to say something. I was definitely a dead woman. He was always extremely suspicious of anything I did and always wanted to know what I was up to. Well, he wasn't going to know that I was protecting a wanted man in my apartment. Not ever.