Love Bite.
Chapter 7
I want to kiss the sickness of mind
My heart without reason
Sunken to deep disappointment
Spreads over universe
With a knife
- Blonde Redhead
Speaking theoretically, Sakura was sure that Sasuke had not taken offence from her comment. After all, she had only said she had standards, which was, in its entire entirety, so true. Whereas, Sasuke… he would throw around so many girls without a seconds thought.
However, when Sasuke was completely blanking her at every perspective, she started to become more and more wary of what she had said.
And she had no one to talk to about it.
Ino was most definitely off limits. She knew nothing about Sakura and Sasuke's 'acquaintance', which had initially started all about Ino. Her parents were also definitely off limits – they were as square with relationships as the Amish.
But going back to Ino… Sakura got the impression that Sasuke had more or less… stopped loving her. But was that even possible – to just go from love to nothing in 5 seconds? But Sakura could have seen it coming from a mile away and was internally reminded that Sasuke had never loved Ino. He was just using her for her virginity.
The thought made Sakura feel a little more reassured for some reason. 'Sasuke had never loved her.' She kept repeating it in her head, swishing it around with her tongue. It sounded good. It felt pleasurable on her tongue… Did that make her a bad person?
.&.
The next time Sakura saw Sasuke, it was in the school's hallway down the science block. She saw Sasuke take a left and walk into a lab at lunch. She followed him out of a quick impulse that failed to process in her brain. She peeked into the classroom before she stepped in, noticing that Sasuke was alone and taking a seat near the front of the lab, laying his bag on the table. His posture was the epitome of nonchalance, and Sakura quickly ducked into the classroom, taking the free seat next to him. He looked round in alarm, before finally asking in a surprised tone, "What are you doing here, Sakura? You didn't get a detention too, did you?"
"A detention?" Sakura thought, taking a few minutes for it to finally process. "Ohh, so that's why you're in a lab at lunch. Erm, but no, I didn't get a detention. In fact, I don't really know why I'm in here at all…"
Sasuke looked even more confused. This conversation was getting nowhere.
"Actually," started Sakura, suddenly recovering a fragment of her broken logic, "I have to ask you something – why have you been ignoring me recently?"
'As blunt as a spoon and as receptive as a goat,' Sasuke thought bitterly.
However, he coldly replied, "Look, it doesn't matter, Sakura. Just get out of here before a teacher thinks you've done something wrong."
Sakura looked at him, but he wasn't looking back. Instead, his eyes were directed at the smooth marble countertops.
"Did I offend you the other day? We were getting on perfectly till I said that… I, erm, have… standards."
He visibly flinched, which told Sakura everything and she suddenly gained the courage to face him head-on.
"I didn't mean what I said, Sasuke. It's just that it kind of came out of my mouth in the heat of the moment. I didn't mean to hurt you." She knew that he only jumped into other girls' pants because of the pressure he received from his family, especially his dad. She laid a gentle hand on his bicep, which was tense with an untellable emotion.
But he scoffed and moved his arm away from her touch. "It wasn't like that," he eventually said. "You couldn't offend me even if you wanted to." And this is when his male pride starts to get the better of him. But his sentimental tone told Sakura he really meant it. "It wasn't like I didn't offend you as well."
She remembered back to that night, and was reminded of silence from Sasuke that indicated that if she weren't a four-eyed geek at high school, he wouldn't have been so eager to listen to anything she had to offer. But that didn't matter right now. She didn't care, because as it happened, things didn't turn out like that. Sasuke had opened up to her and she was thanking God that he had. It made him seem less like the cold-hearted ice Prince and more like a real, breathing human being.
"Okay," Sasuke sighed, feeling defeated, "I was slightly hurt by your comment, but only because," he paused slightly for emphasis… "Only because you made me sound like I didn't respect you. Even if I met you with your hair down and your glasses nowhere in sight, I would have still respected you. I respect all women. I only do what I do to them because…." He took a deep sigh before revealing his reason, "Because it ups my appearance. There, I said it. I only screw girls over because it makes me look good. And in front of Naruto and all the other guys, it's something we all do just to make us look like gods, especially in front of my dad. It makes me feel liberated from him. It's pathetic, isn't it?"
Sakura's eyebrows knitted together, "Well, yeah, kind of," she scoffed, half laughing, and half frowning. "You're a shit excuse for a man (pardon my French), but that doesn't make you any less human. I can totally understand the family reason, but the selfishness of your actions are so beyond forgiveness… but I'll find a way," she smiled up at him warmly. "Only if we can be 'friends' again… or whatever we were," she grinned, giggling heartily.
He smiled back, liking how Sakura liked their relationship as it was.
But their moment was interrupted by a teacher walking into the room, a pile of exercise books stacked up to his chin. He loudly dropped them on his desk, startling both Sakura and Sasuke, as they abruptly moved away from each other. The teacher looked between the two of them suspiciously, before slowly asking, "Haruno, what are you doing in detention?" Obviously the thought of Sakura getting into trouble was an unbelievable concept.
Sakura jumbled for an excuse and managed to squeak out the lamest excuse in the book: "I thought I left my Biology book here, but I think I must have left it at home. Sorry, Sir," she quickly apologized, before standing up and pulling her satchel onto her shoulder. She left the lab, but not before flicking a temperate smile behind her shoulder at Sasuke and cheekily mouthing the words 'Bye, Friend…', adding a childishly innocent wave at him, who, in return, smirked at her.
.&.
All during detention, Sasuke gazed at the seat that Sakura had just occupied. Her fresh scent still lingered in the air around him. The room was silent, except for the teacher's pen at the front of the classroom that was busily scratching away at the paper.
On normal circumstances, detention would be boring Sasuke out of his mind, but today, thoughts that shouldn't be lingering were doing exactly that. They were filling up his head and he couldn't think logically anymore.
He whipped out his phone from his pant pocket and decided to console his worries with one of the very few that he could actually trust: Naruto.
…
From: Sasuke
To: Naruto
Meet me after my detention at fag alley – need to talk!
…
Fag alley was one of those typical places where you would find every student who skives lessons, every student who smokes, or every student who's part of the popular clique. It was the hang about for the rebels in the school and was just opposite the school entrance, hidden by a few bushes and an unsuspecting walkway. Walk in the 10 meter radius of fag alley and your nostrils will fill up with nicotine and you'll find an extremely large population of cigarette butts on the floor. No teacher, nor outsider, has ever dared enter.
However, Sasuke and Naruto were frequent visitors when they just wanted to smoke another joint. They couldn't help themselves. They were free spirits and loving every second, despite the health risks.
Like clockwork, just as the bell for lunch rang and Sasuke's detention was finished, he made his way out of school boundaries and across the road from the school gates. Flicking a cautious glance behind his shoulder to check that no teacher was following, he made a turn on his left and entered the narrow alleyway, shrouded by scrubs and a wooden fencing on both sides.
He greeted some of the people leaning on the walls either side of the alley with a handshake or a smirk as he passed them. Finally, he got about three-quarters of the way in and found Naruto expertly rolling up a fat joint. Just as Naruto licked the paper's edge and finished rolling, Sasuke snatched it out of Naruto's hand, and lit the joint with a cheap plastic lighter he kept in his pant pocket at all times.
"Oi," Naruto exclaimed immaturely.
Sasuke ignored him, and took a long intake, slowly savoring the toxicity filling up his lungs in a euphoric pleasure. So he would be slightly lean for next lesson… who cares?
Sasuke handed back the joint to Naruto, who glared at his friend but took it nonetheless. "Get your own next time, teme."
Sasuke rolled his eyes at the old nickname, but didn't bother pointing it out. Instead, Sasuke took Naruto by the arm and led him further down the alley to a more secluded and less populated section. "Naruto, I think I'm-"
"Save it, Sasuke," Naruto interrupted bluntly. "I know your story… you're in love."
It was Sasuke's cue to look utterly shocked beyond belief. "What?" he sharply pointed out, narrowing his eyes at Naruto and fixing a deadly glare at him.
"I can see it all over you. You're so whipped." Naruto stated all of this in a calm manner whilst he was still smoking on his joint. His eyes had turned to a lazier, dilated shade – evident proof that he was lean. And then came the giggles. He managed to slow down enough to ask, "So, who is it? It can't be Ino, can it? She was a 'fuck and run', wasn't she?" And he started to giggle again at his last statement, finding the very lettering of it amusing when it really shouldn't have been.
Sasuke was easily tired and annoyed when Naruto was the only one high and he was still sane. So he snatched the joint from Naruto and decided to finish the rest off, which wasn't actually much. "Wait, before we get onto 'who', how the hell can you tell?"
"Please, dude, I practically have a PhD in love, I think I can point out a few well-known side effects. I mean," he pointed to Sasuke's hands, which were constantly being rubbed against his polo shirt in an agitated manner, "sweaty, nervous hands," he continued to point to his stomach, "butterflies whenever you're around that person," and then Naruto's attention turned to Sasuke's eyes, "dark circles from lack of sleep – most likely kept up all night from thinking about this person too much…"
Sasuke submissively listened to all the bull that was sprouting from Naruto's mouth. Admittedly, butterflies did make their appearance every now and again, and he was suffering from lack of sleep… but surely it could be something else. He thought for a second, silently smoking on his joint before throwing it to the ground, extinguishing it and voicing his opinion out loud.
"'Something else'?" Naruto cried dramatically. He placed a comforting hand on Sasuke's shoulder and gazed into his eyes in a corny manner, "You may not want to admit it, Sasuke, dear child, but love is not something to be ignored or rejected. Take it, cherish it, and never let it go…" And then Naruto burst into a fit of laughter. "Pschh, yeah, as if THE Sasuke Uchiha could ever be in love!" He mimicked his earlier speech and then laughed so hard afterwards that he was practically reeling over. "Just think of your symptoms as 'something else', Sasuke, don't worry about it," Naruto said sympathetically, patting Sasuke on the back.
Sasuke frowned and remained silent. So he wasn't in love? Naruto almost had him – close call.
They started walking back to their lessons despite being 10 minutes late. But all the while, Sasuke reflected on Naruto's long speech, and for some unknown reason, in a very cliché way, Sasuke considered the possibility of Naruto's words being correct. And then he had to ask himself, 'What if?'
Hello there, i'm back with an update!
Hope this chapter is to your satisfaction - urkkk, so cheesy!
Strangely, this little place called 'fag alley' actually exists, but as for where, my lips are sealed.
edit. Do you know what i just noticed? Fag isn't used globally. I was referring to British slang - fag as in cigarette :)
^That gives you a massive clue as to where this 'fag alley' that i know of is...
