~ QUOTATION MARKS ~
By iNk'-'Cr0w & Torishiro

A/N: Has it really been 3 months since the last update? Am I really becoming uncommitted to this?

Torishiro: Yes, it's been that long and yes you have (I stand as a witness).

Gosh, I'm sorry! Don't kill me! I have an Ichigo Kurosaki figurine to look after! Beware ye readers:

Torishiro& iNk'-'Cr0w: Kishimoto-sensei owns Naruto. It is only our privilege (as fanfiction writers), from this point onward, to make them a little OOC by chucking them into emotionally challenging situations :)

(Note the subtle warning there~

… also, please excuse any grammar/punctuation/etc. errors.)

Chapter 10

They were all about to go their separate ways when Kakashi stopped them.

"Sakura, why don't you spend the night at Sasuke's?"

The Uchiha almost spluttered in response like Naruto did. Sakura blinked tiredly, barely comprehending their teacher's words. "You parents are currently away on a mission, so no one will be home –"

"It's ok's sensei. I'll… manage on my own." Sakura managed to give a reassuring smile. One of the small scratches on her face stung. I hate these. Sakura briefly thought, wondering how some of the tiniest cuts could still hurt. Kakashi gave Sasuke a pointed look as Sakura gingerly touched the scratch near her eye. Sasuke sighed, too tired to argue, before motioning for Sakura follow.

"But Sasuke, its fine –"

Sasuke cut off his teammate's protests as he took hold of her wrist. He pulled her away as a whining Naruto was dragged off by Kakashi in the other direction. Sakura constantly pulled on her wrist in Sasuke's hold, blushing profusely. She could feel a dark, irritated aura around the young Uchiha. Just when she had mustered up the courage to protest one more time, they had already arrived at the Uchiha complex. Sakura dug her heels into the ground. Sasuke turned to see her blushing face.

"I'm okay, Sasuke… Besides, I'm sure your parents wouldn't like –" The pinkette's words were cut off again when the front door opened, revealing a smiling Mikoto.

"Sasuke! Welcome home! Oh, you brought Sakura-chan,"

"Uh, Mrs Uchiha, I was just –"

"Sakura got a little cut up during training today, but her parents aren't home…" Sasuke replied smoothly. Mikoto gave a smile as she directed her eyes at her son knowingly.

"Of course, come in! Shall we get cleaned up? I'll have Itachi set a room for you soon," The older Uchiha beamed and stepped aside to let them enter. Sasuke realized he was still holding Sakura's wrist and dropped it in surprise. Sakura didn't seem to notice though. Her face was still flushed as she looked down at the scuffed toes of her shoes in embarrassment.

"Come now, Sakura-chan. Would you like some help with those cuts?" Mikoto offered with another smile. Sakura startled before giving the older woman a timid smile. "Yes, please," she answered softy. Mikoto looked briefly over her shoulder and smiled at her youngest son as she led Sakura to the bathroom. Sasuke inwardly grumbled. He grumbled some more when his stomach started to grumble too. He made a beeline for the kitchen and vacuumed up whatever food Itachi hadn't managed to eat. Just as he had finished, Sasuke heard his mother speaking to Itachi from the hallway.

Soon enough Itachi came into the kitchen. As he laid eyes on his little brother, the smirk on Itachi's face instantly widened a fraction of a millimeter, which was only something a trained Uchiha eye could notice. "Aren't you a bit too young to be bringing girls home, little brother?"

Sasuke glared at him through a glass of water. "Have you finished preparing the guest room?" Sasuke said. He was tired and irritated. Searching for his annoying pink haired teammate for the past few days was stressful. It was aggravating, Sasuke corrected himself, not knowing where she was, what she was doing, who she was with, if she was ok – Having to keep her disappearance a secret was troublesome. Sasuke cut his thoughts off.

"No." Itachi said, effectively helping Sasuke to stop thinking.

"What?" Sasuke frowned, but his brother just smirked again. Not a moment after, Mikoto brought Sakura in for some dinner. Sasuke frowned again. Strangely, he felt at ease when he saw that her scratches were cleaned and patched up. Sakura timidly took a seat next to Sasuke as Mikoto placed the meal in front of her.

"Oh, uh, Mrs. Uchiha, I'm sorry, but I'm not hungry," She said politely and Mikoto smiled warmly at the girl; Sakura was obviously uncomfortable in their home, and Uchiha Mikoto will not have that.

"Nonsense. You must be starving after all that training today. Just eat as much as you want, alright dear? And just call me Mikoto." The woman smiled. Sakura opened her mouth to speak when Sasuke interrupted her.

"Just eat already," He whispered gruffly to her. "it'd be rude not to accept something being offered to you." He didn't mean for the last part to come out, but he was just so tired. Sakura's face turned pink before she picked up the chopsticks.

"Th-thanks for the food," She said, still blushing and tucked in.

In the silence that followed as Sakura ate, Sasuke noticed she now smelt like the soap they used. When he looked up, he caught Itachi and his mother smiling at him. It was then that he realized he had leaned closer to the pink-haired girl unconsciously. He swiftly turned his head and moved away before Sakura noticed.

The girl herself felt a bit of the nervous tension in her shoulders leave as she indulged in the meal. She looked up at Mikoto and smiled. "It's very delicious,"

Mikoto blinked in slight surprise before her graceful Uchiha resolve snapped and she reached over, even squealing a little. "Why thank you, Sakura-chan! You're so cute! I've always wanted a daughter! Being in a house full of boys can be so tiring sometimes!" Mikoto gushed as she drew Sakura into her arms. Sakura tried to quickly swallow the food she had just shoveled into her mouth as the woman pressed her cheek into her pink hair. Sakura just managed to not fall off her seat.

"I know! You should just become part of our family!" Mikoto smiled. Sakura began to choke from stopping mid-swallow. Sasuke, who had been drinking cup after cup of water in an attempt to keep himself awake, made a small gurgling sound as he thumped his glass down onto the table. Itachi could barely contain his smirk as he decided to contribute to the fun.

"Mother, I'm afraid all the guest rooms are ... unavailable." Itachi said as he turned to his mother with his usually blank and serious face. Mikoto gently gave Sakura's heaving back a pat when the girl continued to cough as she turned her attention to her oldest son.

"Oh, is that so?..." Mikoto answered with a less-than-subtle devious look in her eyes. Sasuke looked back and forth between them once he was breathing properly again. Itachi and his mother smiled weirdly, like they were laughing at a shared secret that he didn't know about.

"That's ok, I'll just head home for tonight then," Sakura spoke up as she placed her chopsticks on top of her empty bowl.

Mikoto's eyes widened as she answered a little too frantically. "Oh, Sakura-chan, you couldn't –"

"But…" Itachi interrupted calmly. "… there is one room you could stay in."

The Uchiha woman looked a little peeved at being interrupted, but she quickly turned to Sakura and smiled.

"Oh, uh…alright then… " Sakura said hesitantly. Sasuke felt a nagging feeling pick at his senses, but he brushed it off as his eyelids getting heavy.

.~[||]~.

"It seems that this is the only room you can sleep in," Itachi said in a normal tone but Sasuke could definitely hear mischief in it. Or was it glee? At that point, Sasuke couldn't care less anymore, and he sighed under his breath for ignoring his instincts earlier.

His brother pushed the door open and revealed a neat room. A single bed took up one side of the floor-space. Next to it was a wide window. A few shelves stood against the other walls with the books organized orderly. Sakura's jaw almost dropped for the second time that night – it was a simple room, but it still managed an elegant look.

"I guess this is fine…" Sakura said slowly. A muscle near Sasuke's eye ticked even though he knew she was just trying to be polite and not trouble his family.

"It also happens to be Sasuke's room," Mikoto beamed and Sakura reeled away from the room.

"Actually, I think I really should stop troubling you –"

"Sakura-chan, it's alright! We can't have you venturing out at night alone! Besides, it isn't trouble at all, is it Sasuke?" Mikoto smiled kindly as she glanced at her son with a pointed look. Sasuke pursed his lips into a thin line. The nerve! This is abusing parental power. Sasuke inwardly growled. He caught Itachi's gaze and his brother stared back long and hard, almost forcing him to comply.

Sasuke sighed. He just wanted to sleep. Was it too much to ask for? Apparently it was, since his mother and brother knew nothing about Sakura's disappearance, so he technically had no valid reason to complain. That, and the fact that there would be hell to pay if he didn't let his mom do what she wanted.

"It's fine." Sasuke said finally and Sakura shut her mouth before he scolded her again. Mikoto ushered them into the room.

"Good! There's a spare futon in there somewhere, so Sasuke can get you sorted on the bed quickly. Well, I've got some things to take care of, so you kids just go to sleep, alright? Good night!" Mikoto said a bit too cheerily. Itachi nodded to Sakura before smirking at his brother.
"Goodnight." Then, he shut the door.

A moment of awkward silence stretched between the two teens now that they were alone. The only light in the room was the dim moonlight that flowed in from the window. Sasuke broke the silence when he heaved a sigh and pulled a spare futon from the storage space in his closet. Without a word to Sakura, he pulled his pillows and blankets from his bed and replaced them with new ones. Sakura watched dumbfounded when he chucked his things onto the futon. Then, he lay down with his back turned to her, leaving her his bed. Sakura stared at his still body for a moment in awkwardness.

"S-Sa… Sasuke, I can take the futon, you can have your bed back–"

"If mother checks on you later and finds you on the floor, she will have my head in the morning." Sasuke said gruffly. Sakura couldn't see his face but his tone was practically dripping with exhaustion. She had never seen him like this before. Not knowing how to reply, Sakura hesitated before finally settling into his bed.

The mattress was soft and the blankets and pillows seemed to take her form comfortably. Sakura glanced at her crush and noted that he hadn't moved at all. After a few more moments of hesitating, she opened her mouth to say a soft goodnight.

"Who is he?"

Sakura blinked at Sasuke's back. For a moment, it had sounded like he said something, but after a while, there was silence again. "W-what?" She asked in dark silently. When Sasuke finally answered, his voice dragged out in a slightly hoarse and exhausted tone.

"That person… that you're always with, who is ..."

Sakura pulled herself up into a seated position. As she placed her palms against the mattress to hold herself up, she realized just how exhausted her body was too. Her eyes grew droopy but she rubbed them awake and opened her mouth to reply. Again, Sasuke cut her off with a sleepy sentence.

"You're always with him now… why.." Sasuke's voice continued to trail out and Sakura took careful steps towards him on the ground. The sleepiness that was making her eyelids heavy began to fade away with every step she took closer to him. And with every step she took, her heart beat seemed to thump louder in her chest. I've never been this close to him before…

After slowly crouching down at the edge of his futon, Sakura placed her hand on the floor in front of her to steady herself as she tentatively leaned forward. She didn't dare to come any closer. What if he turned around and saw her looking down at him like that? He'd definitely hate me more… Sakura thought sullenly to herself. Her palm began to burn from all the weight she was putting against it, but Sakura slowly, carefully, leaned forward more to try and catch a glimpse of Sasuke's face. Her heart beat was so loud in her ears, she was sure he would hear it too soon. The pale curve of his cheekbone was visible just past a lock of black hair. His dark lashes settled against his cheek, telling Sakura that he had his eyes closed, but that was all that she could manage to see without completely leaning over him.

"Why… "

Just as Sakura began to back away, Sasuke's voice cut through the silence abruptly. The word surprised Sakura so much she lost her balance. Things seemed to go in slow motion at that moment. The girl's vision began to tilt forward as her body began to near Sasuke's. The loud drumming sound her heart was making just a moment ago was suddenly silenced as she fell forward. Sakura's eyes widened and her mind went blank. Without thinking, she threw both her hands in front of her and squeezed her eyes shut.

Then, nothing happened.

There wasn't an "Oof!", or an "Ouch!", or a "Get the heck away from me," from the boy she was currently oh so very close to. But maybe she did wake him up, and he was just glaring at her in shock and she didn't know it. What… what if I've fallen on top of him! Sakura frantically screamed in her head. To stop and think about the chances of her actually making body contact with her crush in that position was probably one of the dumbest things she could do, but she would never consider coping a free feel of her crush, unless she couldn't open her eyes and face the consequences. She wasn't that desperate. After another moment of hesitating, Sakura slowly opened her eyes, fully expecting to see Sasuke's glare.

Instead, she found the side of his sleeping face right in front of her since he was on his side from where she was hovering above him. Sakura's heart came back to life and the pinkette could feel the familiar heat of a blush in her cheeks. Luckily, her hands had landed in a good, safe distance away from Sasuke. But because her arms were so widely spread apart, her face was lowered a lot more than she had expected herself to be. Their faces were close enough that the tip of Sakura's nose almost touched his cheek.

From their proximity, she could definitely see that he was asleep, but she held her breath because she knew how much of a light sleeper he was. Sakura noted that a long strand of her hair was hanging near Sasuke's nose. She was sure that if she moved, her hair would either tickle him or he would breathe it right into his nostrils. Slowly, Sakura carefully drew herself away from him and grabbed her hair away from his face once her hands were free from holding herself up.

Sakura let out a small breath she didn't know she was holding. Trying to settle her heartbeat, she sat with her legs folded on the floor next to him. She sat still for another moment to make sure that Sasuke was definitely asleep, and that he wasn't going to suddenly spring up, shouting "Psych! I got you good!", or something along that line.

As she silently repeated to herself that nothing had happened, Sasuke started to mutter. Thankfully, his voice was softer this time and Sakura didn't find herself in the life-or-death situation of hanging above him again.

"… why.. did you leave… with him…" Sasuke mumbled and Sakura watched his shoulders rise and fall with his breathing. Sakura allowed for a moment of silence again before sighing softly.

"I... didn't mean to leave without telling you guys. It was really a surprise. I didn't know Daisuke would actually come looking for me, and I didn't want– I didn't know, that that was going to happen. I was just as surprised to see him as you were. Nothing happened while I was away though. I mean, I did get a little scratched up but only because I was helping Daisuke train…" Sakura paused as she kept her gaze on her sleeping teammate. She felt ridiculous talking to him like this. Sasuke wasn't even listening, but Sakura felt the need to explain herself, and to apologize. She didn't know why, but she just had to. "… I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. I guess none of this would have happened if I just…"

Sakura trailed off, not really knowing how to finish. And it probably didn't matter anyway, because the tears were beginning to well in her eyes again. Sakura blinked furiously and wiped at the tears that were threatening to spill. She would not cry in the Uchiha household, not in dark, not in Sasuke's room, and certainly not after all the kindness Mikoto and Itachi had shown her tonight.

The pink haired girl sniffled slightly before getting to her feet, which were beginning to feel numb with pins and needles after sitting on the floor for a while. Quietly, she slipped into bed and drew the blankets up to her shoulders. Within a few minutes, Sakura's eyes drooped and finally shut after a long, exhausting day.

.~[||]~.

Around sometime in the night, Sakura had a dream. In the dream, she could faintly see that she was still in Sasuke's room, in the Uchiha household. It was dark and the moon was hidden behind clouds. Sakura wasn't entirely sure, but she could remember seeing an outline of a person near the edge of the bed. The face was unclear but she could distinctly remember the feeling of cool fingertips brushing her hair away from her face. The chill she was beginning to feel on her shoulders was covered by a thick material, and the warmth invited Sakura back into a deep sleep. A small smile stayed on Sakura's face until morning.

Around the same time that night, Sasuke could remember waking up. He wasn't completely sure, but he could vaguely remember sitting up after not being able to get back to sleep. The heavy weight he had been feeling in his chest for the past few days felt like it had been lifted, and the relief he was feeling lulled him back to sleep. Sasuke stayed in a new position on his futon until morning.

(Another) A/N: I've also been having trouble with line breaks (as you may/may not have noticed in the previous chapters as well). When I edit the chapter, they don't show :S Therefore, I am terribly sorry if you've had trouble reading this because I know the story is already very confusing (thanks to my poor writing skills)

Torishiro: We will look into this. Suggestions/advice is appreciated. For the time being, you are welcome to *in a monotone* Doh, Ray-view, Me, Fah, So, La, Ti, Doh ~!