Sasuke for once did not look uninterested or angry, he looked completely repentant and Sakura could see the pleading in his eyes, though what he was pleading for she didn't know.
She didn't know what to say, she didn't know how she should react or where she should look, so she settled for looking at the ground. She hadn't realized that she had been sobbing until she felt two strong arms wrap around her.
It was unlike Sasuke to be comforting, and it was unlike Sakura to be so rude when someone was trying to be nice to her, but she couldn't stay cradled in his arms; not when he knew she was tainted. So she forcefully pushed herself out of his grasp and stood up on shaky knees.
"I want you to take me home now." She said dully, Sasuke's eyes widened just a bit at the tone of her voice, she sounded like she had given up. She didn't hold even a spark of the fire that had lead her to keep running into him the past two days, currently all that was left of that fire was ash.
"Sakura-" He said disguising any hint of concern that may have lingered in his voice. He ran a hand through his hair, as he so frequently did when he was thinking and he looked at the pinkette who stood before him. She was rumpled.
Her hair was a mess, hanging in long pink tangles just past her breasts, which were more exposed than usual due to the see through shirt and the fact that she had slept in it the night before, leaving it wrinkled and out of place. Her skirt too, was wrinkled at a little higher on her body than it had been the night before, revealing more of her legs than Sasuke wanted to see...at the moment.
"No." She said holding her small hand out to him in motion for him to stop what he was going to say before he even started, "I need to go home."
She refused to make eye contact- refused to even look at him. She couldn't bare to look into the black depths of his eyes, into the eyes that knew far too much, and not just about her- about everything. Suddenly, Sakura found herself battling demons that she thought she'd buried a long time ago.
Sasuke knew too much about the world, and she was afraid of the world. She was afraid of death, pain, shame, sickness, poverty, guilt, everything. Sakura thought she had relinquished her fears, thought that she had grown into someone who was mature. But most importantly she thought she had been fixed, and Sasuke had just shown in her a few words that she was still heavily broken.
Sasuke stood up and made a move to step closer to the pink haired girl with hot tears cascading down her cheeks, and when he placed a finger under her chin so he could look at her face and assess the damage he had done- well, not that he himself had done the actual damage- he was able to look at her for a split second before she stumbled backwards out of his reach.
Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, and all Sasuke could read on her face was shame. He made no move to let her know that it wasn't her fault, or that he was sorry it had happened.
Sakura met his eyes for less than a second before she turned and ran- as Naruto had done earlier she sped her way through the pristine home not caring if she clumsily knocked into anything. She ignored the pain in her ankle, and she ran quickly; fueled by adrenaline, the pain was almost non existent.
When she passed Naruto and Ino she could see that Naruto was holding the blonde girl close, and that she had been crying, but Sakura didn't take any time to wonder what had happened or what was going on between the two. She had one goal in mind, and that was to get the hell out of Uchiha Sasuke's house.
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Sasuke did not follow the pink haired girl down the stairs instantly. Instead he waited and thought about just what he had done, in his defense she had asked him what he knew...wasn't it the right thing to do to tell her?
Of course, there were so many other things he knew about her father; things he could have mentioned instead. But no, he chose to pick out without a doubt the most horrific one, again though, in his defense, it was the one he remembered the most clearly.
Sasuke had seen Sakura around school, she had been a freshman during his junior year, they had been seated next to each other in the elective course that Sasuke had been forced into choosing.
Well, technically he hadn't even chosen it, he had just agreed to take it since there were no other open slots, and apparently one was not permitted to take weight lifting twice in a day. He had told the counselors he didn't care if he didn't receive any credit as long as he was enrolled- they still said no, and thus Sasuke Uchiha was stuck in cooking class.
Sakura was only fourteen years old at the time, and he pink hair was cropped in a very mature looking bob. She didn't wear makeup and she hid herself in behind bulky sweatshirts. Sasuke had immediately been expecting an annoying squeal or some sort of unwanted physical contact when he came to sat next to the small girl. But she avoided his eyes completely, and she moved herself a bit further in her chair when he took his seat.
They never talked. They never even said hello. But that day, when she hadn't mobbed him like a stereotypical bimbo, Sasuke had gained just a little bit of respect for the girl. Just a little.
The next year was Sasuke's first year as a senior, he didn't have any of his credits, because he didn't bother showing up to class. School- was not something he thought to be of very much importance, because as far as Sasuke could tell he already had his future laid out.
He saw Sakura every day this year. Because she was always late to school- and he was usually smoking in his car. Her hair had grown out and fell to her shoulders, in little pink waves that reminded him of bubblegum. He had loved bubblegum when he was younger, but that didn't mean he even liked her. Because he didn't.
Sometimes when he would pass her in the hallways and she was at her locker or talking to her blonde friend and the red head Karin- that literally made him want to cut someone open- he would notice the two girls squeal and scream out their affections for him, while Sakura would just roll her eyes and shaker her head.
He heard one day, while he was setting up a meeting with some of the guys at school, that Sakura Haruno was an honors student with a difficult home life. He didn't care at all. But he then heard Karin ranting to one of her friends, about how she hated Sakura- because how dare anyone think they were too good for Sasuke Uchiha.
He had gained just a little bit of respect for her that day as well. Because for once there was a girl that seemed to have a head on her shoulders, and the thought was refreshing. Though he didn't dwell on the thought at all, because someone who was refreshing like Haruno Sakura seemed to be deserved to stay refreshing, and not fall into the rest of the crowd.
Sasuke's second time doing senior year Sakura was a junior, and they were in the same health class. He didn't speak to her, and he didn't sit by her. He didn't even glance her way- because in all honesty he was not interested in the girl, he just didn't want to strangle her. But during the portion of the class in which the teacher would show videos of malnourished children, or people inflicted with diseases Sasuke noticed a lot of girls leaving the room because they couldn't handle the grief.
Sakura never left, on occasion she broke down into tears because her heart went out to them- but she never left. Sasuke decided then that she was a frail girl with a strong will to help whomever she could however she was able.
And when she gave her final presentation the last day of the semester, Sasuke's suspicions were confirmed. She wanted to be a doctor so she could save lives and help people to be well, she had said she would especially love to work in a hospital funded purely by donations- that way the focus was on the patients and not the money.
Sasuke never showed any kind of approval towards anyone. He never gave anyone any praise. But that day Sasuke had been left speechless- not that he spoke often anyway- and he clapped after her presentation. Shortly after he had left the room, and never returned to health class again.
It was during Sakura's junior year that Sasuke ran into her father. He had been dealing with the man for almost two years, but had never paid any attention to who he was or what he talked about. Until that night. It was Wednesday, and Sasuke had just pulled into the vacant alley way. There was a group of men standing around talking, waiting for him. Because he had what they wanted.
Sasuke kept his gun securely in the waistband of his pants, just in case any of the drug addict men tried anything funny. If there was anything he had learned being a drug dealer, it was that addicts would turn on you in a second, no matter how long you'd been supplying them.
Sakura's father had red hair and red eyes, he was heavy set and from what Sasuke could recall his name was Yoshi. He looked at the men around them, all anticipating when Sasuke would pull the goods out from behind his back and refill their empty supplies.
Heroin was a powerful drug.
Sasuke had seen it lie to men.
Had seen it cheat on women.
Had seen it deteriorate it's users.
Had seen it kill.
But he had never even heard of it causing the rape of someone so young and innocent- of someone so completely good.
Until he heard Yoshi Haruno began to speak of his own daughter.
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Sasuke shook the thoughts from his head, he couldn't afford to think of any of that right now. What had happened with Yoshi that night was not an issue he could dwell on, and was a subject he preferred he'd never have to tell Sakura about.
He didn't want her to hurt anymore. But he knew that if he could take back what he had done, he wouldn't.
He grabbed a shirt and threw it on quickly before taking off down the stairs. As he came to the bottom and entered the living room he saw exactly what Sakura had, which was Naruto holding Ino in his arms trying to console her about something he didn't care to know.
Through the door that connected the living room to the garage, Sasuke heard the roar of an engine. It was eerily familiar and when he glanced at his key ring, he noticed that his keys were missing.
Was she planning some sort of joy ride? What an idiot! If he remembered correctly she couldn't even tell him how to get back to her house from the party, there was no way she'd find her way to anywhere but a ditch if she set out from here now.
He swung the garage door open full force, earning a hole in his wall from where the knob had met the white surface. He didn't even notice. His eyes were focused on Sakura, sitting in the front seat of his car with the windows down, engine running- and the garage door closed.
He acted on instinct, for before he knew it he had torn the keys from the ignition and opened the garage door. Unaware of how frantic his actions had seemed, and unaware of Sakura sobbing as he did so.
"Are you fucking stupid?" He screamed, as he grabbed her by her upper arms and pulled her to him, forcefully removing her from the vehicle She didn't answer, instead she settled for cowering in his chest and sobbing even more.
It was then that Ino burst into the garage, and she pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke, her blue eyes were wild and he mouth was turned down in a scowl. So she chose now to check on her friend?
"Let her go!" Ino squealed, moving to take a step toward the Uchiha- but being held back by Naruto.
"Excuse me?" Sasuke said, for he did not like being commanded.
"Let her go! You have no idea what she's been through! No idea at all!"
"Where were you when she bolted downstairs and fucking stole my keys?" He spat the blonde girl in the coldest voice he was capable of.
"What-" Ino began, because clearly she had not known Sakura had come down until she heard Sasuke yelling at her from the garage door way.
"Too busy with Naruto?" Sasuke sneered, and he saw that it hit a nerve because the golden haired girl visibly flinched.
"Sasuke." Naruto said, "That was over the line man-"
"Shut the fuck up." Sasuke said the anger beginning to spiral out of control, "She was in here trying to commit fucking suicide."
Ino face visibly paled, and Sasuke could see Naruto's knuckles turn white from where he was gripping the girls shoulders too tightly. He shook his head and scoffed as he put Sakura back into the vehicle and closed the door. She made no move to get out, and didn't bother saying a word to Naruto or Ino. Even though she knew her silence would hurt them- even though she knew she should protest what Sasuke was saying, because it wasn't true.
"And it would have been your fault if she'd succeeded." He said icily to both of the blonde haired blue eyed teens in front of them. He knew it would upset them both, because they both knew it was a true statement.
Sasuke got in on the other side and started the car, he locked the doors when he saw Naruto step out from behind Ino, and he rolled up the windows when the boy stepped into the garage.
He placed his hands on Sakura's window, his face was greatly ashamed. Sakura looked up and lost her resolve for silence upon seeing Naruto's face. She rolled her window down as Sasuke began to back out of the garage, and before he had left completely she called.
"I wasn't trying to die! I promise!" She could see the relief on both of her friends' faces, and when she did she felt like a weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Sasuke however didn't believe her. The scene fit the scenario too perfectly, and she had every right to want to die.
"You're lying." He said, and Sakura only shook her head in response. "Yes you are, you were trying to fucking off yourself."
"No!" Sakura said, as her small hands clenched into fists in her lap. "I wasn't trying to die Sasuke. I wasn't."
"Why not?" He said cuttingly, "It would make sense if you were."
Sakura smiled sadly, and Sasuke wished to convey that his words had not meant that it would be better if she did, or that there was no redemption for her- simply that he would understand if she wanted out.
"That's- not-"
"No." Sakura said, "It's okay. It's true that it would make sense. But that's not what I was trying to do."
She laughed lightly, and it was so fake that Sasuke felt his stomach lurch. She was wrong, she was so wrong. He gritted his teeth and pressed his foot onto the gas harder than necessary.
There was no way it would ever make sense if she hurt herself on purpose, just because someone else had. No way it could ever make sense if Sakura who wanted to help everyone, decided she would be better off dead. Nothing about it made sense, and the thoughts had Sasuke's head spinning so much so that he pulled over to the side of the road in order to clear his thoughts.
Sakura only looked at him in confusion as he leaned his head back and covered his eyes with both hands. She felt uncomfortable in his car, she felt uncomfortable anywhere near him now- when only yesterday he had given her endless comfort.
"Sakura. It wouldn't make sense because that's not who you are."
"You don't know who I am Sasuke." She whispered sadly, and the raven haired boy shook his head; because she was wrong. He knew who she was, she'd shown him clearly several times.
"Sakura." Sasuke said, as he pulled back onto the road and began driving no where in particular, "Do you remember your freshman year?"
"Yes." She said hesitantly, for the question was asked out of the blue and had taken her by surprise.
"Do you remember seventh hour?"
Sakura audibly gasped when he asked her that question. Yes she remembered, she had seen Sasuke for the first time that day. She had been taken aback by his looks- but she hadn't said anything, because Sakura was not into fawning over boys.
Boys made her uncomfortable. She then learned that he was Sasuke Uchiha- the boy that every single girl in the world seemed to be obsessed with, and she had made the decision to ignore his looks completely, because he to her, was just some arrogant asshole with a reputation he hadn't earned.
Only what Sakura didn't realize is that Sasuke had very much earned his reputation. He was not just feared by the guys at school because they suspected he was some sort of bad ass. He was feared by the guys at school because they'd seen him pull a gun on people, and they'd bought narcotics only thought to exist in movies, right out of his pocket.
"Yes." She said again, her voice just a little breathless, because why on Earth would Sasuke remember seventh hour?
"Do you remember your sophomore year?"
"Yes." Sakura said again, "But I don't remember you being there."
"I wasn't very often." He said, and his jaw was tight because Sasuke didn't know what he was going to say next- and he wasn't able to stop the words from coming out of his mouth, "But I saw you everyday."
"Sasuke-" Sakura said, and her green eyes were wide and disbelieving- because was this Sasuke Uchiha admitting that he had watched her? That maybe...she had captured his interest in that seventh hour cooking class almost four years ago?
"You..." He hesitated, not sure if he should go on, "You were late everyday. I was always in my car- I wasn't stalking you or anything."
"I didn't think you were..." She said, and she shook her head trying to fight off the tears that threatened to fall once again.
"Then...there was your junior year Sakura- and we got put into that health class."
"You only came first semester." Sakura said to herself absentmindedly.
Sasuke nodded.
"I remember your presentation. You stayed through all the videos that no one would watch-"
"If you shy away from reality nothing will ever change." Sakura said quietly, "If you ignore the sadness others are feeling then you can't ever help them."
"I thought...that you were brave."
Sakura stopped breathing, did the ever elusive and every mysterious way to good for the world- Sasuke Uchiha, just call her brave?
Yes. Yes he did.
"I'm not brave." Sakura said meekly, "You should know that I've never been brave!" She had balled her hands up into fists once again, and the tears were freshly streaming from her wide green eyes. She shut them tightly and shook her head. "I'm a coward! I was always a coward! Because I have always been so alone!"
She didn't even feel Sasuke pull over once again, she was too lost in her sobs to hear when he shut off the engine and got out of the car. And she was shaking so badly that she didn't even feel when he opened her door and pulled her out of the passenger seat and into his arms.
"You've never been alone." He said gently.
And the words brought Sakura out of her current state and back into reality. Back into the reality that here she was sobbing into Uchiha Sasuke's chest. Being held firmly, something most girls would kill for. She tried to protest what he had said, but he spoke again.
"I've always been looking out for you."
