Together and Alone - Part 4

When morning came, the two of them realized that they had overslept. They blinked and sat up. Sakura screamed and Sasuke spun around and winced.
Kakashi and Sakura's mother were standing over them and watching them. Sasuke and Sakura went red and moved to opposite ends of the couch.

"Good morning!" Mrs. Haruno said, handing each of them a tray of food.

"Yo," said Kakashi, waving, "How are you feeling Sasuke?"

"Better. I think I'll be ready to go on another mission in a few days."

"Just take it easy." Kakashi paused for a moment. He reached into his suriken pouch and pulled out his book called "Make-Out Paradise." "Here Sasuke," he said, "You can borrow it."

Sasuke backed away and winced again from his injuries. "What makes you think that I'd want to read that?" Kakashi giggled girlishly and winked. Sasuke looked absolutely horrified. Sakura covered her laughing with a cough.

Sakura turned and looked out the window. She sighed when she saw the rain pour down heavily against the windows. "Oh yes, and Sakura?" Kakashi asked. Sakura looked up. "Naruto insisted on you visiting him. He said it would make him feel…erm…much better."

Sakura sighed. "I understand sensei. But in this weather, I will have difficulty getting there. I'll try though," she added, smiling.

Sasuke felt angry. This time he understood that this was not regular anger; this was jealousy.

Sasuke and Sakura ate their meals in silence. Kakashi and Mrs. Haruno sat at the other end of the living room on chairs. When at last they had finished, Sakura stood up. She grabbed her coat and then she said, "Bye mom! Bye Kakashi-sensei! Bye- oh yeah. Sasuke-kun, would you like me to pick something up for you?" He shook his head and watched her leave with a strong feeling of sadness. He watched her struggle against the wind with the rain pounding against her. He watched her until she was obscured by the fog.

He turned around and saw Kakashi watching him. Kakashi pointed to his suriken pouch, where his beloved book was concealed, and nodded suggestively. Sasuke shook his head and went upstairs. He was still in a lot of pain and was wondering why these wounds were taking so long to heal. Maybe he would have been in better condition if he had gone to the hospital instead-?

He pushed the thought out of his mind and he went into Sakura's empty room. He sat at her desk again and opened the top drawer. He took out the Photo Album and turned to the last page. "Mrs. Sakura Uchiha". He hadn't known why he had suddenly wanted to see those words. Maybe it was for reassurance- like that Sakura wouldn't betray him for Naruto.

Sasuke rummaged through other drawers, trying to keep himself occupied. Suddenly a thought occurred to him: Why was he doing this? These things may be precious to Sakura, and he was looking through them without care? Or was he acting possessively? Since when had he been like this? Sasuke walked over to the bed and lay down. He waited for three hours. Then he fell asleep.

"He was out like a light when I brought him his lunch."

"Aw."

"He must be in pain."

"Yeah…well I can't wait until he wakes up because I've got to show him-"

Sasuke's eyes flickered and saw Sakura and Mrs. Haruno standing over him. "What is it you have to show me?" he asked and attempting to sit up.

"Oh Sasuke! Well, I got a couple more movies and a lot of sweets. You must be bored silly!"

"And hungry," Mrs. Haruno said, thrusting the tray onto his lap. He ate without hesitation, but his arms throbbed when he moved them. After entirely skipping lunch, the food felt so good.

"How's Naruto?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

"Personally, he seemed quite well. I think that all he wanted was company so he invited me over. How are you feeling? Better? Worse?"

"No change from yesterday," he answered honestly.

"Here I'll change your bandages while you're eating." After taking off the bandages, Sakura and Mrs. Haruno both examined the wounds.

"When you start feeling well enough, Sasuke, we'll close them up with chakra," Mrs. Haruno said.

Sakura helped Sasuke down the stairs again when he was at last finished eating. She helped him sit down, and then she popped in a movie. Mrs. Haruno said goodnight and closed the door. It was dark again- until Sakura flicked on the TV. She sat next to him clutching her bag of treats.

This time the movie was a comedy. It was about these stupid people who were trying to be ninja and were achieving nothing. "This movie was made for Naruto," Sasuke said quietly. Sakura couldn't hold in her laugh.

About half way through, Sakura asked, "Hungry?" She opened the bag of candies. There were assorted chocolates and candies.

"I guess," he answered.

She handed him some, but when he reached out for it, his arm failed him and started shaking. She patted his arm and motioned for it to stay still. She put all of the candies back in the bag- all but one, and she pressed it up against Sasuke's lips. He opened his mouth and allowed her to pop it in. She smiled at him. He blushed and focused on the movie again. Throughout the movie, Sakura continued this method of feeding him. He didn't mind. But near the end of the movie, he said, "My neck his hurting."

"Would you like to lie down?"

He shook his head.

"Would you like to go upstairs?"

He shook his head.

"Then what do you want to do?"

He did know what he wanted to do. But he hesitated. Then ever so slowly, and catching Sakura by surprise, he leaned against her and rested his head on her shoulder. She smiled and leaned back and resting her head on his.

When the movie ended, neither of them felt tired. Sakura checked her watch and it read 9:00pm. "We have time for another one, I guess," she said standing up and popping in another movie. Sasuke didn't complain. She pressed play, and sat down. Sasuke was sitting up against the arm rest. When she sat down at the other end of the couch, he grabbed her arm and dragged her over to him. "What are y-?" Sasuke pulled her between him and the back of the couch like the previous night- only this time…closer. Sakura found it kind of silly how they were huddled in the corner of a long couch- but she didn't mind, of course. Snuggling with Sasuke had been one of her life goals since she was just a small girl!

She hugged her legs that were folded in front of her. The movie began. The movie so far was about a stupid man ("That's Naruto," Sasuke said), and a pretty young girl. ("That can be me!" Sakura said). As the movie went on, a new character was introduced. He was evil but good-looking. ("And that's you," Sakura laughed. "Hm," Sasuke said.).

Sakura sat up and grabbed the bag of sweets. Sasuke pulled her back into position. She popped a few more into her mouth and his mouth. The movie continued. The Naruto-character and the Sakura-character were trying to hunt down the evil Sasuke-character. The Naruto-character was crazy about the Sakura-character but she thought that he was stupid.

Later on in the movie, there was a big battle scene. The Sasuke-character had an army attack the Sakura-character and Naruto-character. The Sakura-character was wounded and dragged off by the attacking enemies. The Naruto-character didn't realize that she was gone yet.

The Sakura-character was locked in a small room in the Sasuke-character's hideout. The Naruto-character at last realized that she was gone, and set out to save her. Meanwhile, the Sasuke-character had made the Sakura-character his slave. He was really mean and cruel to her.

The real Sakura shifted and Sasuke noticed this. He rested his head on hers to calm her.

The Sakura-character was planning to escape, but didn't know how. The Naruto-character was out in the middle of nowhere. Sakura-character was sobbing in her room, when Sasuke-character approached her. He asked her to come with him. The two characters in the movie walked down to a large kitchen. Then the Sasuke-character asked the Sakura-character to join him for dinner because he had an important matter to discuss. She reluctantly said yes.

That evening the two characters sat opposite to each other. The Sasuke-character served the Sakura-character food and then asked her if she wanted to join forces with him. He told her that she was really strong and that he admired her power. The Sakura-character had blushed. Then, surprising the Sasuke-character, the Sakura-character said, "You must be lonely." He replied by sighing and saying, "Yes." The Sakura-character smiles. "Then I accept- as long as you promise not to treat me like your slave."

They shook hands in agreement. The Sasuke-character treated the Sakura-character with more respect, and they fell in love with each other.

The real Sasuke and real Sakura suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. As the movie progressed, Sakura-character continued fulfilling the Sasuke-character's wishes. They continued dining together and became great friends.

Finally, one day, the Naruto-character burst into the hideout. He grabbed the Sakura-character. She protested, but he didn't believe her. He thought she was under some sort of spell. The Naruto-character attacked the Sasuke-character. The Sakura-character tried to break up the fight, but the Naruto-character kept attacking. The Sasuke-character didn't attack him back- he merely blocked his attacks.

The Sakura-character was screaming for the Naruto-character to stop. The Naruto-character turned to her and he then came to the conclusion that she wasn't the real Sakura-character. He lunged at her, but the Sasuke-character blocked it and finally, he started to fight back.

The real Sakura and Sasuke had their eyes on the screen. In this battle scene, Sakura had leaned against Sasuke so forcefully, that he nearly fell off the couch.

The two characters battled, but then the Sakura-character joined the fight, taking the Sasuke-character's side. The Naruto character was horrified at her decision. He attacked her again, but the Sasuke-character stepped forward and he got the attacked instead. He was thrown backwards and hit the wall. He went limp and the Sakura-character started crying. The real Sakura started crying too. "It's just a movie, you know," Sasuke whispered. She nodded and wiped her eyes.

The Naruto-character stopped when he saw the Sakura-character crying. She told him to leave and he obeyed. He looked shocked. The Sakura-character was bawling all over the Sasuke-character. She was shaking him and trying to wake him. Then slowly, his eyes flickered open. He stood up and she stood up too. He took her into his arms and they kissed.

The real Sakura and Sasuke were frozen. Distracting herself, Sakura popped another candy into her mouth and then one onto Sasuke's.

When the characters in the movie broke apart, the Sasuke-character fell over. He was dead. The Sakura-character didn't move. The real Sakura stared in disbelief. What a crappy ending.

Then the credits started. "Well that was disappointing," Sasuke said tiredly. "I died."

Sakura nodded and listened to the music from the TV. It was gentle and calming- unlike the actual movie had been. She closed her eyes. "Hey, don't tell me you're tired already," Sasuke said.

Sakura glanced at her watch. It was nearly midnight. "Yeah, I am," she answered honestly.

He sighed. "I'm not."

She looked at him curiously. "I didn't rent any other movies. I don't know what your intending to do. I've run out of ideas and I'm tired."

He sighed. "Well what do you want to do tomorrow night?"

She looked up and thought. This had sort of become a routine. "I dunno. What do you want to do?"

Neither of them had come up with any good ideas after fifteen minutes. "Maybe I should rent more movies?"

"You could."

"Maybe I should invite Naruto over?"

"No."

"Maybe we could have a really nice dinner?"

"I dunno. It's up to you."

"If you're feeling well enough, maybe we could go for a walk?"

"That is doubtful."

"Well what do you want to do?"

"Hm."

They were getting nowhere. They were running out of ideas for entertainment around the house. "Oh well. We'll think of something eventually."

"Maybe…" The credits ended and the screen went black. The room went black too- making Sakura's heart beat really fast. To his own surprise, so did Sasuke's.

Sakura sank back into the armrest. She was still squished between Sasuke and the back of the couch. Her legs were still folded and she felt really, really comfortable. Purposely, Sasuke then leaned into her again. He was still sitting up, so her head reached to about his chest. She looked up at him, and caught his eyes, which were already in a steady gaze.

"Goodnight," he said in a voice that was far more tender than Sakura was used to hearing.

She couldn't resist it.

Sakura propped herself up and kissed him - quickly yet affectionately - on the cheek.

With equal quickness, she burried her face back into the arm rest and pretended to fall asleep. Sasuke did not know what to do. He sat, frozen to the spot, for several long minutes before he followed her lead and went to sleep.

Thank you so much for the reviews so far! Love y'all!
Thanks for reading, and please review. :3

See you tomorrow with Part 5!