At long last, here is the next chapter! Sorry it took me like a week... Thank you so much to all of the reviewers, they make me so happy :) I will reply all of them tomorrow! Enjoy the chapter!
I just added a sentence at the end and edited, so I've reposted the chapter.
Larissa- I'm glad you love it :) Enjoy the chapter!
Velvettears- Sorry it took me so long...
xX Aya Marie-chan
"Sakura, I have to talk to you. I'm not just going to vanish, even though I'm sure you would love that to happen…" Sasuke said, sarcasm dripping on every word and his voice containing a hint of contrition. His voice matched his face; if you studied his expression long and hard you could just barely notice traces of remorse and regret.
Inner Sakura went down on her knees and pleaded, 'Please, I'm begging you, please, just talk with him. Then at least you would get a chance to scream at him! Little bastard would deserve it… I must say, I'm naturally curious about what he wants to say… SO SHUT YOUR ASS UP FOR A MINUTE AND LISTEN!' Sakura flinched at her inner-self- that girl could be scary! Her temporary fear changed into fury.
'Shut up, you're annoying,' Sakura glared heatedly at Inner Sakura. How that is possible, we shall never know.
'Hmph! You sound just like him… and since I am you, and you are obviously meant to be with him, then so am I!' Inner Sakura screeched and then proceeded to faint with joy, anime style, of course. At her first statement, Sakura became angry, but by the end you could see her sweat dropping.
Everyone else just stared at her as her face became contorted with different emotions in swift succession. It was quite an amusing sight. On Sasuke's face all guilt had faded and was now replaced with an entertained smirk.
Sakura had finally snapped out of her inner tirade and looked at everyone. First she looked at Tsunade, who was gawking at her with her eyebrows raised. Next she looked at Naruto who was standing there, yawning since he had become accustomed to her random outbursts. Lastly she peered at Sasuke, whom was sending her his infamous Uchiha smirk, oh how she loathed that face. His bruise wasn't so prominent on his features anymore, thanks to Kabuto healing it a bit.
You could see fire burn in her eyes, all past forgotten, not caring who he was, only seeing that sneering face. Two fists clenched at her sides, chakra immediately rushing to her knuckles, ready to assist her at any point in the future. Sakura entirely disregarded the situation at hand, all of her mind focused solely on her current rage.
Sakura turned towards Sasuke and said in a lethally sweet voice, "Well, Uchiha, it looks like you haven't changed at all. If you don't wipe that darling smile off of your face right now, I might just have to injure you so much that you won't be able to move a single facial muscle ever again." Sakura could swear for a nanosecond she saw fear flicker in his eyes, but it was there and gone so fast that she couldn't tell. Either way, it was certainly satisfying, it isn't every day that you get a Uchiha scared, after all.
Everyone just stood there blinking, somewhat unsure what to do.
After a long awkward silence Sakura stated as if it were obvious as she pointed an accusatory finger at Sasuke, "Umm hello here people! S-class criminal standing right in this very room!" Now it was her turn to smirk. Sasuke just stood there, as indifferent as usual, willing to bear any punishment he would have to endure, as long as he would get to talk.
Tsunade sighed and said wearily, "Sakura, you can't wiggle your way out of this any more. Personally, I'm tempted to beat him to death for how he treated you, but he might actually have something worthwhile to say… And if he doesn't, I wont hesitate to torture him." She cackled evilly as she recalled her plan she created earlier.
She began to mutter under her breath, "Yes… fan girls… it wouldn't be hard… they're gullible… they would claw him to death mercilessly… scratch his eyes out… their blood-curdling shrieks of 'Oh Sasuke-kun!' would drive him insane…"
"Thank you Tsunade-sama," Sasuke said as he bowed, entirely ignoring her creepy murmuring. When Tsunade heard this, she snapped into an upright position and nodded curtly. She then grabbed Naruto by his collar and proceeded to drag him out of the door.
Naruto yelled as he struggled, "Tsunade-baa-chan! No! We can't leave her with teme! He's evil! Nooooooo!" His attempts to escape, however were futile, Tsunade had a grip of iron. When they reached the hallway, she quietly closed the door behind her, leaving them to settle their disputes.
'Okay, how in the world do I get out of this? I swear, if he degrades me one more fucking time, I won't be able to deal with it… I'm afraid that I won't be prepared for what he has to say…" Sakura thought nervously to herself. She knew that there was no escape this time. She had nowhere to run anymore, she was cornered.
Inner Sakura assured, 'Well, if you're going to have to do this, we'll do this right. Now, go sit in Tsunade-shishou's chair, it gives us the upper hand in a sense. It makes it seem as if we are higher, look at his reaction, then we'll plan further from there.' Sakura did as she was told; it was a pretty good idea after all. When she sat, she crossed her legs and folded her hands with her elbows resting on the Hokage's desk. In a way it gave her an air of superiority. Then she gestured for him to sit down in the wooden chair in front of the desk. He walked slowly, almost lazily to the chair and sat down and inhaled deeply.
'Now, we wait,' Inner Sakura instructed. Sasuke placed each of his elbows on the rests and laced his fingers. For a moment he closed his eyes and kept them so.
Sasuke opened his eyes and then said quietly, "Sakura, I understand why you would be hesitant to listen… I could be slightly harsh every now and then…" At his Sakura snorted.
'Ha! Every now and then? Bullshit… Don't you mean all of the time?" Sakura asked herself sardonically.
Ignoring her snort, Sasuke continued his voice seemingly begging a tiny bit, "Don't you see why I did it though? I thought you knew… Yet, when I saw you today, I knew that you didn't… When I left, I thought that if you didn't understand, then at least Naruto would tell you about it. I understand somewhat why he didn't though…"
"What do you mean? All you said was 'Thank you.' and you were off. Those was your darling words of parting. I don't understand, thank you for what? The only things I do understand is that you left me after I gave you everything: my heart, my mind, and my soul. I even offered to go with you to that pedophile's hellhole I was so goddamned desperate! Don't you see, Uchiha? Maybe I'm not the one that doesn't understand… When you left, your actions shattered my heart, just like I shattered that mirror today. I was so upset I think I became delusional!
After you left, I gradually began dying. Oh, sure I'm alive, but empty. I'm living a half-life. Your departure tortured me every single day. I was dying inside. Now, I fear, that I am long past dead…" Sakura finished. Her resolved broke and tears began to stream gently down her face. She wasn't sobbing, just sad. Her face was blank and empty and she appeared to be reminiscing on sorrowful memories as she cried silently.
She appeared to be there, but in her mind, she wasn't really at all. She was lost in thoughts and painstaking memories, it hurt. Sakura snapped out of her agony when Sasuke's hand softly encircled her tiny wrist.
"Sakura, let's go finish talking somewhere else," Sasuke whispered. He had hint of sadness in his eyes as well. Sakura nodded, even though she knew that this place was likely to dredge up more heartbreaking memories.
They walked out of the office and kept on walking until they reached the road you walk to exit Konoha. Sakura, seeing where they were headed, began to tremble violently. She was seeing flashes off everything that had occurred on that fateful night. Sakura shook her head and raised her hands to her ears. Tears continued to flow freely out of her emerald eyes, which she had closed.
"After all of this time, you're still annoying," Sasuke insulted nonchalantly.
Flash
"Please Sasuke-kun! If you have to leave, at least take me with you! I'll do anything!" Sakura pleaded as tears streamed down her face.
Flash
"Thank you," he whispered before her world turned to black.
All he could do was insult her and thank her when for him she was willing to do anything. Sakura had been willing to even betray her homeland which she loved so much...
She was denying her thoughts, memories, and feelings, praying that they were simply awful nightmares and that she would wake up at any moment. In her mind, she knew what was happening was the truth, the cruel, harsh truth, perhaps. Yet, the truth.
'I have to deal with this. I'm tired of running and hiding. I suppose it is better to endure the brunt of the pain now rather than later…' Sakura thought mournfully. She walked over to that bench and sat down slowly. She studied the stone and ran her hand over it, feeling the coldness and smoothness. He was like the stone. Sasuke walked over and sat down beside her.
"I know that this place is painful. Yet, I had a reason for coming here. I figured, if this is where I messed things up, this is where I would set things right... Sakura, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I ruined everything. I thought I was doing the right thing, by leaving you here I mean," Sasuke apologized, his voice still quiet and entirely encased in sorrow, "After all, a flower can't bloom in the darkness. It needs light. My world is all dark; there is no light whatsoever. I left you so you could move on, I'm not worthy. Yet, without you, I couldn't live. I expected to come back here to find you to have moved on. Half of me selfishly prayed that you didn't, the other half knew that I would only hold you back…"
Sakura smiled sadly as she replied, "Sasuke-kun, didn't you know that you were my light? You were- no are my sun. You're right; no flower can bloom without sunlight. That's why when you left, I wilted. I shriveled up and died, helpless and alone." She had stopped crying now; her face was currently graced with a small smile. She raised her emerald eyes to peer into Sasuke's onyx orbs only to find that they were glistening.
Sasuke placed his arms around her in an embrace as he whispered, "I'm so sorry, Sakura. I'm so sorry…" His head rested on top of hers lightly. Sakura could swear she felt something similar to rain in hair before she drifted into sleep, feeling safe in his arms. Perhaps Haruno Sakura had a chance at happiness after all.
