Chapter 9: We Can't Just Let This Go

As soon as the words had left her lips, Haruno Sakura had regretted them. Not only because the sole person they truly concerned had witnessed their confession, but because part of her understood she had been shouting merely half-truths.

And everyone had heard them.

There was a dramatically hushed silence, not just among the friends seated at the table, but among everyone in the establishment-even those who could not understand what was transpiring.

Sasuke stood directly behind Sakura. He had been returning from the washroom as she had reached her boiling point. Her little rant about how much she despised him rung in his sensitive ears.

His eyes were looking almost directly at her, and he smirked.

"Funny, that's exactly the same way I feel about you," He spoke softly, ensuring that she would be the only one to hear him. He turned abruptly, and left.

Sakura sighed exasperatedly and quickly stood to chase after him.

It was peculiar. Although he had been worse by far towards her, Sakura's conscience got the better of her in this debacle. The urge to apologize welled up from her core. It was in her very nature to appease others.

She had to say something to him. She had to try and fix the catastrophe she had made of her assignment.

Perhaps what bothered her more than her guilty conscience, was the reality that in the place deep down inside her, she felt incredibly horrible. While she may have partly meant those words, something was stopping her from believing that they had been the entire truth.

"Sasuke, wait." She called after him, as she walked through the door he'd just passed through.

When they were outside and out of earshot of the patrons of the restaurant, she sprinted after him, grabbing onto his arm to stop him. He instantly threw it back at her yet again.

This time, again, that feeling of invisible lightning seemed to shoot through her arm and raise goose bumps.

"Leave!" He growled.

"Just-stop moving!" Sakura demanded. He hadn't bothered to slow his pace and she was struggling to keep up with him while trying to hold a conversation.

"I don't see any reason to."

"I want to talk to you." She pleaded.

"Good for you. Now get away from me." He nearly hissed at her.

He's a lot angrier than I thought he'd be...Sakura worried. She contemplated what she could say.

"I...Need to talk to you." She confided.

Sasuke paused half-way down a deserted road.

"What did you say?" He asked softly, almost hoping she wouldn't repeat her words. He'd never heard such a loaded statement before. He was unsure how to react, besides in his usual, callous way.

"I needto talk to you." She repeated, more confidently this time. It seemed she was piquing his interest. "Please, I need to explain myself."

Huge Sakura trees loomed above them, filling Sasuke's nostrils with their intoxicatingly sweet scent.

He wondered whether some higher being didn't think it was enough to punish him just with the girl's scent alone.

He could hear the sound of her breathing behind him.

Sakura was momentarily distracted by the beauty of the blossoms. Even at a time like this, she could acknowledge the power of her namesake to calm her soul.

"Won't you just make things worse? You seem to have a knack for that." He said.

At this, Sakura had the urge to turn him to face her. As her hand took hold of his shoulder in order to do so, shivers ran up and down her spine. The constant recurrence of this electric phenomenon was beginning to scare her.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked him, "Is it so hard to let someone in, even just a little?"

"What's wrong with me? Shouldn't you be asking what's wrong with you?" Sasuke countered. He was bothered by the way her words had affected him, in the restaurant, and now. It wasn't as if she had been spinning lies. She was right. He was exactly as she had described him. And he definitely would never let anyone in. Perhaps it was because of this, the way she could understand him-the way she could come to know him as well as he knew himself, in such a short period of time, that he was perturbed.

And while he knew it was the truth, having her acknowledge her feelings openly, and having him hear how deeply she hated him, had affected him in a way that worried him more than anything.

"I can't stand you. I can't stand to be around you any more than you can stand to be around me." She answered. "That's what's wrong with me."

"If we feel the same way, then there isn't a problem, is there? Just stay out of my life."

"You keep telling me to leave you alone when you know full well I can't do that. I mean really, you can tell me until you're blue in the face and I'm not just about to just drop this. We're just going to have to-" She was interrupted as Sasuke clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her from talking, using her voice to easily pinpoint its source. He ran his second hand down her arm, judging by its length where her waist may be. He made to move behind her, securing her waist, before he leapt off behind the nearest line of trees (detectable by their 'stench'), pulling her along with him.

Sakura was too stunned to understand or even react to what Sasuke was trying to do. Electricity surged between every point of contact their bodies made.

As Sasuke pulled her behind a tree, he released his hold on her waist, and turned to pin her against the rough bark. With his hand still pressed against her lips, he huddled over her, seemingly shielding her from something she was not yet aware of.

Sakura stayed incredibly still, not daring to make a sound, as she sensed danger near by.

With Sasuke's acute sense of hearing, the approach of the three ANBU could be heard long before they arrived on the scene. As Sakura waited, she took in all of Sasuke's peppermint scent, which in such close proximity even overwhelmed that of the cherry blossoms.

As the ANBU appeared on the deserted street where the two had been mere minutes before, Sasuke pressed closer towards Sakura. They had paused momentarily to try and appease the one ANBU who could swear he'd sensed something in this deserted part of the Uchiha District. They seemed to decide to split up and search the surrounding area. Sasuke could both sense their powerful auras and hear the fast approach of one of the masked hunters. Simultaneously, as the ANBU neared their hiding place, Sasuke shuffled himself and Sakura around the tree, keeping out of the line of sight of their enemy.

Sakura fought hard not to make a sound. She was trembling slightly, fearful for both their lives.

Sasuke's breath tickled her ear as they waited for the ANBU to leave. It took several more desperate minutes before they seemed to decide there was nothing of interest here, and moved on.

"I can't sense them anymore. They're gone." Sasuke whispered into her ear. Goose bumps spread along Sakura's skin at his words.

A long minute ticked by before Sakura pulled herself free.

"Thank you." She whispered, still too scared to raise the level of her voice.

Even after everything that had transpired, Sasuke had once again saved her from the wrath of the mistaken ANBU.

Why are things so messed up? Why am I so scared? Why do I have to burden him with my protection?

"...Let's just go." Sasuke muttered before he turned away and headed back to the street.

Sakura reached up and gently touched her lips before turning to follow after him.

Xxx

Nearly a half-hour later, Sakura found herself back in the Uchiha home, not having said another word to Sasuke. She made to sit on the couch, while Sasuke, as always, reached the bottom of the stairs, no doubt with the intention to head back to his room.

"You're disappearing again, huh?"Sakura asked, not really expecting an answer, and mostly talking to herself.

Sasuke smirked as he turned to face her.

"I'm too much of a cold-hearted bastard to do much else." He replied, sarcasm seething through his words with full intent to sting the annoying girl.

"Why do you have to be like that? Would it kill you to carry on a normal conversation?" She demanded, exasperated with the Uchiha's ways.

"You tell me...You seem to think you've got me all figured out." He took a few steps towards her voice, finding the doorway to the living room and casually leaning against the frame.

Sakura just shook her head, knowing he wouldn't be able to perceive the motion.

I honestly can't believe this guy. One minute he saves my life, next minute he hates my guts. And the next still he's throwing insults left and right...

She peeked over at a clock above the fireplace. It was still early enough that she could easily guess the rest of her night would drag on with the burden of boredom.

"I'm only calling it how I see it." Sakura remarked to the Uchiha, trying to keep the conversation going in an attempt to delay the torture. Her initial regret of taking the job was returning in full force the more she realized it was going to be the hardest thing she'd ever done. With the added stress from the ANBU pressure and with no idea what was delaying the Hokage, while Kakashi worked day and night to try and reign in the orders flying out to the ANBU by the village elders, Sakura almost felt her special assignment should have been delayed as well. Although, she would be in infinite more trouble if she had tried to hide out at her home, endangering her family by association.

It was like she was being imprisoned all over again, with added duties and a little more breathing room.

Added to all the commotion, was the fact that she, nor Sasuke, had had any team training since she'd started living with him. It was definitely negatively affecting her psyche, and she could only guess what it was doing to the Uchiha who took much pride in his on-par abilities and the immense effort he would always put into the training sessions and missions.

"Do me a favour, quit calling anything." Sasuke quipped, before he seemed to decide the conversation was over and turned to head back towards the stairs.

Who does she think she is? Coming in here and messing things up...Pretending like she knows me or something. Useless girl. Sasuke brooded.

"You know..." Came Sakura's voice as he realized she'd followed him out of the living room, "We can continue to exchange verbal blows all we like but it's not really going to get us anywhere...Why don't we try with our fists?"

"Are you mental?" Sasuke had stopped to look at her with what seemed to be his best astounded expression.

"No, I think it's actually pretty reasonable. Look, we haven't had any proper training for ages now...Why don't we spar to get some frustration out...Vent a little? I hear it's pretty healthy." Sakura suggested, further explaining her intentions.

"I don't 'vent'." Sasuke made quotation signs with his fingers as he spoke, his same look of, 'are you for real?' evident upon his features.

"Naw, you don't say..." Sakura laughed, rolling her eyes, "You're more edgy than anyone I know."

"You know, you don't quite seem to get it. Even if I, say, wanted to train, the last person on this planet I'd like to partner up with to do so, would be you. Get the picture yet?" Sasuke demanded in his usual rude tones.

Sakura laughed, "If you think saying things like that are going to get me to stop pestering you, you're greatly mistaken. I'm not going to allow you to get under my skin so easily anymore." She crossed her arms and raised her chin in defiance, soon realizing he couldn't see her little show of courage.

Although, she also didn't realize he could feel the defiance radiating from her aura.

"Quit being so damned relentless."

Sakura laughed again.

"Haruno Sakura, the Relentless. I like it." She smiled, trying her hardest to change every rude thing he could throw at her into something positive.

"Tch." Sasuke's agitation was undoubtedly growing.

"So what are you, afraid or something?" Sakura provoked him yet again.

"Afraid of what?" Sasuke was genuinely confused.

"Of sparring with The Relentless One," Sakura joked, although she knew he'd never appreciate any sort of kidding around.

"Yeah right. The only thing I'm afraid of is your sanity. If you weren't so messed up with that ANBU business I'd have called the special task force of medic-nin to come and take you away." Sasuke rebutted.

"Sure, whatever you chicken!" Sakura teased, thoroughly enjoying this.

"I'm not a chicken," Sasuke struggled to get the word out. He couldn't believe he even uttered it.

"Whatever you say," Sakura giggled, knowing she could easily use Sasuke's anger to provoke him into sparring with her, "Let's just do this, outside in the back yard." She pushed him forwards towards the kitchen before passing him and heading to the sliding doors that led to the yard.

As she unlocked the door, slid it open, and stepped out into the garden, Sasuke felt her aura waver at the same moment he smelled the cool damp air, and heard the distant rumbling of thunder.

"Having second thoughts?" He asked, smirking knowingly.

"Never," She gulped, as she let the rain dampen down her clothes and hair.

Sasuke, intrigued by her complete perseverance, followed her.

As soon as he'd taken a foot outside, he too became drenched. It was a constant down pour. He half-expected the nuisance of a girl to change her mind at any moment.

But she didn't.

For Sasuke, the rain was both as beneficial during training, as it was a detriment. He wouldn't be able to smell anything precisely thanks to the dampness in the air, nor would he be able to efficiently sense her aura. He would have to rely entirely on his sense of hearing in order to perceive those areas where the rain faltered from bouncing off her body.

It was primarily due to his focussed calculations that Sasuke didn't sense the kick that knocked him off his feet as Sakura wouldn't delay the sparring any longer in case Sasuke backed out.

She had to get him angry enough for him to want to keep at it.

Sakura leapt away from the blind boy soon afterwards, throwing the bandana away, and tearing off the bottoms of her cargos to increase her mobility. The heavy fabric only weighed her down. She quickly tied her hair back as she landed nimbly on the branch of a tree that skirted the edges of the forest behind the Uchiha home.

Now thoroughly covered in mud, Sasuke jumped quickly back to his feet, standing incredibly still in the attempt to pinpoint her location and her next movements.

He heard the beat of the rain falter to the left, a few feet away, and higher up in the air than he had been anticipating.

She's in the trees, he guessed.

Using his ability to identify any changes in the pattern of the rain to outline any objects that were around him, Sasuke dashed nimbly towards her position, aiming a well backed punch in her direction.

He felt his knuckles graze her arm and heard a gasp of surprise.

How did he know I was here? I haven't made a sound!

Sasuke observed, through the sounds of the rain that she was slender, weighing very little, and well toned. Although her more precise features were impossible to discern, the knowledge of the complete shape of her body would be valuable if he was going to win this match.

I guess I'll have to be more serious about this, Sakura thought, as she bounded away from him at an incredible speed, deciding it was best for her to keep up her little game of cat and mouse so she could better gauge his abilities. Although they'd trained together on many occasions, it had always been rather cooperatively and never with the intention to harm one another. This was a whole new experience.

As Sasuke caught up with her easily, she made an identical shadow clone of herself to draw his attention while she turned around to face him, using a tree to propel her jump as she kicked downwards. This tactic would have worked perfectly had he not been one step ahead of her, dispatching the clone with a quick flick of a shiruken and sidestepping her attack at the last possible second.

Suddenly growing frustrated, Sakura realized too late that she was falling to the ground with the clumsy speed and power of her kick. Her foot became engulfed in the soggy, muddy ground, and she struggled to free it.

As lightning flashed overhead, she was temporarily paralyzed and blinded, just long enough that Sasuke reached her position, aiming a strong kick at her ribs.

The impact caused her to break free of the mud as she flew a few meters away from the Uchiha. It had caused more pain than she would have expected him to cause her in a casual sparring match. She doubled over a moment as she coughed up blood.

Now, most definitely angered, and realizing the Uchiha had the full intention of venting his own frustrations, Sakura pushed chakra into her palm, using it to try and heal the pain in her side.

Both this action, and the strong scent of blood that permeated from her, gave her location up in an instant.

He ran at her at break neck speed, aiming a punch this time, and feeling his fist colliding with wood. She'd exchanged her body with a stump of wood faster than he could reach her.

He stood, panting with the exertion of the fight that had only lasted mere minutes. They were both clearly putting their all into their hits.

He waited.

He'd lost track of her in that short moment, and now, there was nothing.

Not an indication of movement. No scent to be found. And no discernable flaws in the flow of rain.

A loud clash of thunder sounded, deafening him. Electricity seemed to cackle in the air, and he knew instantly how dangerous this was becoming. The storm seemed to be directly above them, and it was incredibly stupid to be sparring, fighting, or whatever you wanted to call it, amongst the trees.

Where is she? She can't possibly be anywhere near me...Sasuke was struggling to stay focussed as the storm raged harder, the heavy rain was numbing everywhere his skin was exposed.

Suddenly, as though she had simply willed herself into being before him, Sasuke was kicked upwards by the kunoichi who had been crouching for a split second right in front of him. She nailed him right in the chin, and sent him flying.

His increased senses were failing him.

He got back up, wiping blood from his lip. This was far more than a simple sparring match. They were both ensuring they were drawing blood. Perhaps it was their mutual hate that drove them to such lengths, or maybe it could be explained away by the way the storm confused the senses... Either way, Sasuke refused to lose to her. Not to an annoying girl.

She was panting heavily, her ribs were throbbing, as she watched him get up. The rain stung her exposed arms, and the mud made it harder to move. The blinding lightning and roaring thunder both added to the difficulty of their fight. Somehow, it all excited her.

Sakura was quickly calculating her next move, and yet, even as she watched him, he disappeared. She struggled to find him again, scanning all areas around her, trying her best to peer through the rain.

She didn't see anything until it was too late.

Sasuke appeared in front of her, as quickly as she had to him, and punched her directly in the stomach so that she flew back into a tree. She slumped to the ground, and struggled to get back up. Her body ached as she knew black bruises were forming in all the areas he'd managed to hit.

She could not be beaten by him. She wanted to prove that she was more than a nuisance. That she was more than an interfering burden.

He rushed at her, and she prepared to block his punch, acknowledging that she'd never get away in time, but at the last second, he faltered, his fist inches from her face.

She took advantage of his moment of hesitation, slipping away from him and backing up against a different tree.

He pursued her, faster than she had been anticipating. He slammed her shoulder against the rough bark of the tree with his right hand.

He had the advantage in this position, yet he made no other move.

He was just pinning her there, not attempting to throw any punches or kicks, nor using any jutsus.

Why isn't he doing something? Sakura was confused.

She was about to push him off, but he made to grab her right arm, pinning it as well to her side and against the tree.

He inched closer to her, and she sucked in her breath, waiting for whatever it was he was planning to do.

But nothing happened.

He was just holding her there. She let her breath go, and resumed breathing heavily. They were both trying to catch their breaths.

Sakura couldn't help but acknowledge that he looked devilishly handsome, with his hair flattened, and clothes clinging to his well formed body. Little puffs of breath escaped his slightly parted lips. His grey eyes gleamed although there was no light source. They seemed almost ethereal. They were gorgeous. And yet, they had the immediate effect of saddening those that gazed upon them. They saw nothing. They would never again witness a sunrise. They would never again see the stars...

Lost in her contemplations, Sakura was slow to realize that Sasuke was using his left hand to trace up her arm, to her neck, and to her jaw line.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she saw a smirk light upon his features.

Did he feel that? She suddenly wondered.

"What are you doing?" She whispered softly, barely audible above the roar of the rain and clashes of thunder.

Sasuke moved his hand to her lips, as if telling her to stay quiet, but he continued on, tracing her features. He used the tips of his fingers to feel her lips, her cheeks, the bridge of her nose, the arches of her eyebrows, and the general shape of her face.

He was, for the first time, trying to see those minor details that had escaped him earlier. The curiosity had grown too great to fight, and he could not stop himself from his very uncharacteristic actions.

He knew he shouldn't care at all what she looked like. He'd tried to convince himself it would simply be nice to know what ones opponent looked like, and that was all.

But now, other questions surfaced. Having simply discovered the contours of her features, he began to question what her hair looked like, what color it was, what shade her eyes were...

Not that it mattered, of course.

It's just something good to know...Use it against her, or something...Yeah...Sasuke tried shaking the curiosity away once again.

He couldn't, however, shake away the sudden realization that Sakura must have been seen as beautiful by those such as Naruto, and Rock Lee. It explained why so many others their age vied for her attention.

Her face was well shaped, her nose was neither too big nor too small, her cheeks were soft, and her lips were supple. Her eyes were big and oval, something many found stunning.

To others, she must have been a real catch.

Yeah, to others...Sasuke confirmed, as though thinking as much would stop him from realizing he might be thinking the same...

He continued to discover more about her as he ran his fingers through her hair, evaluating its length and becoming amazed (despite all attempts to convince himself that he was not) at how soft it was even drenched as it had become.

"S-Sasuke?" Sakura stammered, not quite sure how to react to his close proximity, and his sudden interest in her features. It all seemed very awkward and yet, strangely pleasing.

He was taking interest in her, no matter how little it might have been.

She suddenly became self-conscious as she realized he appeared to be evaluating her.

As he let the last few strands of hair he'd been exploring slip from his fingers, he moved in, closing the gap between them until only a millimetre must have remained to keep his lips from hers. Her body was tingling all over, both from the electricity that laced the air, and the currents that shocked her from where he held her against the tree.

"I win," He whispered, as his breath mingled with hers.

He heard her gasp quietly before he released her and moved away from her faster than she could blink.

He smirked as he moved quickly back towards the house. He decided that he liked the way he could get her to react. Her heart had been pounding fiercely, and she had, on more than one occasion, caught her breath at his actions.

He'd resigned himself to explaining his actions as merely toying with her. He would add it to the list of things to do when in need of something to annoy her with.

He might end up being crueller than she could ever expect.

"W-wait," Sakura was calling after him. This time, he didn't pause on command, deciding it was better to distance himself from her for the time being.

A loud clash of thunder almost changed his mind however, when he sensed the approaching electricity.

The lightning was no more than a half-second away.

It seemed impossible, and yet, lightning struck the earth, a mere meter from where he had left Sakura standing.

She screamed as she felt the heat and was blinded for more than a moment or two, as the bolt cracked the air with electricity.

Sasuke, who could only feel that the lightning had struck somewhere behind him, and who could only hear Sakura's scream, could not discern what had happened.

His heart began to pound hard and fast.

What happened? Did she just get...No...Not even with her luck could that...That's impossible!

Panic set in as he assumed the worse. He imagined a burnt and mangled body lying at the base of the tree at which he'd left her.

"Sakura..." He called.

There was no answer, just the sounds of the beating rain.

"Sakura." He called again, his voice a bit louder this time.

Again, no answer.

"Sakura!" He yelled.

"I'm right here, you don't need to yell." Sakura said nervously as she approached him, skirting the dark pit the lightning had created in the earth, and trembling from the shock of it all.

"Why didn't you answer me?" Sasuke rounded on her. The rain was making it hard for her to hear him.

"What?"

"I said, why didn't you answer me?" Sasuke's voice was rising again. It was odd. He wasn't even looking in her approximate direction, seemingly talking to thin air.

"Uchiha?" She began, tapping his shoulder, "What's the big deal...I'm fine."

Although it made very little sense, it seemed he had been worried about her.

"Why the hell didn't you just answer me?" He repeated again, anger clear in his voice.

"I just couldn't hear you over the rain and the thunder..." She mumbled, looking almost ashamed, like a scolded child.

"..."

"I'm sorry if I made you worry..." She began. Almost immediately, she knew she shouldn't have spoken the words.

"Why the fuck would I worry about something I didn't even want in the first place?" He shouted.

She should have known better.

He turned, and stalked off into the house.

Something I didn't even want in the first place...

His words echoed in her mind. She stood under the rain for only a minute longer. The lightning had scared her half to death.

She lifted her face to the sky just before returning to the house.

"You know what, Sasuke? I didn't want you either." She said to herself.

That place inside of her that she had discovered was not getting smaller as she had anticipated. It was growing. And she knew exactly what she would find there. She was simply unsure if she could trust what it would reveal.

She wasn't even sure if she would ever believe it.

He was everything she couldn't stand. He was cold, and emotionless.

She thought she hated him.

He was alone. Always was, and always will be.

'Thought', being the operative word.

Xxx