Author's Note:

I am having some serious writers block right now. It makes me want to throw myself in front of a bus or on-coming traffic. The sad part is that I have every god damn chapter plotted already. It makes me feel pathetic and sort of weak.

I know this chapter took a little longer than usual and I am really sorry. Will you ever forgive me? I hope you find it in your hearts and read this chapter. Ha… Ha… Fake laughter is awesome. Please shoot me for being emo.

On with the Chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters. Please don't sue me. My horse has eaten my wallet!

Tattoo

Chapter Ten: Why?

"What?" Sakura's face contorted from a worried expression to an extremely mortified look. Her knees went weak and it was all she could do not to fall over. Hands clenched tightly at her sides, her jaw dropped. Neji watched her entire body shiver and saw the disbelief on her face. It wasn't that she didn't believe him; it was that she just didn't want to believe him. He ushered across the bathroom to grab two towels from the cabinet that held them. Wrapping one around Sakura's quivering form, he gave her a sympathetic look. After securing the pale towel around his waist, he opened the door.

Neji's arm fastened around her waist, preparing himself for any lapse of consciousness that might take over her. He held her up as he spoke clearly, "Sasuke Uchiha was just in our room and, from what I could tell, he was looking at your dress." Sakura's entire body stiffened for a second and then she started to shake uncontrollably. Before Neji could even respond, tears formed in the corners of her eyes. He turned to her immediately, concerned. "Why is he here, Sakura?" he asked, his hands guiding up to cup her face.

Terrified eyes turned to Neji and she shook her head, "I- I don't know." Her voiced cracked mid sentence and tears continued to flood her face. "I haven't spoken to him in over six months." Her terror filled words shook him to the bone and he wrapped his arms around her, embracing her while she sobbed out, "Why?" Something had obviously gone terribly wrong between her and Sasuke. Neji was quiet for a while just whispering comforting words to her while she gripped his chest and shook involuntarily.

Neji rubbed soft circles on her upper back while he held her. His fingers were gentle and comforting to Sakura and, for the most part, they eased her. "Sakura, what happened? Why is Sasuke here?" he asked, sitting her down on the single bed. He watched worriedly as Sakura's head went from side to side, shaking. She had no idea why Sasuke would be there. He was still on probation, so that eliminated the chance that he was sent by Tsunade. As mentioned, Sakura and Sasuke hadn't spoken in more than half a year. In her opinion, they had absolutely no business together and she wanted to keep it that way.

Mustering whatever strength she had, Sakura stopped shaking and took on a serious face. "Neji…" she started, taking a deep breath and then continued, "about six months ago, something happened between- between Sasuke and I." She only stuttered a little bit, shocking herself. Neji just waited. He wasn't sure about what he was going to hear, but something told him that he certainly wouldn't like it very much. It was needless to say that he was more than a little anxious.

It was about time Sakura opened up to him.

Kakashi and Naruto sat silently in the Hokage's office, wondering what they were doing there in the first place. Kakashi had just returned from a mission and wasn't under the impression that something was wrong, so he simply had no clue as to what was going on. Naruto was in a similar boat.

Shizune had come to both of them simply stating that there was an emergency and that was it; nothing more, nothing less. The blonde haired jinchuriki couldn't help but worry about Sakura. He knew she had gone on a mission a few days ago. Had something happened to her? Was that why they were there? It obviously had to have something to with her; she was the only thing that Naruto and Kakashi had in common. His worry thickened as he realized the possibility of Sakura being hurt or, worse, dead. A tanned hand rose to rub the side of his face in an act of nervousness.

Naruto was torn from his thoughts when Tsunade walked into the room. Old lady. He thought trying to bring a smile to his face; he couldn't. The stress radiated off her body in waves and he knew that something bad had really happened. Before sitting down, the Hokage fixed both the males with very worried looks. Once seated, Tsunade began, "I'm sure the both of you are aware that Sakura went on a long term mission three days ago. She mentioned having a drink with you two before she left, so I'm sure you're informed. A very strange thing has happened since then. Sasuke Uchiha didn't show up for his counseling yesterday and after some thorough investigation, we discovered that Sasuke has gone rogue and went missing directly after Sakura's departure. It's no secret that he's on probation, so you can see why I'm so frustrated."

Kakashi shot her a blank look that asked a very simple question: How? "How he got away? I've no idea. Obviously he wasn't under the observation he should've been and snuck away, but other than that, your guess is as good as mine." Tsunade paused to observe the faces in front of her for any sign of acknowledgement. She turned up with a thoroughly confused Naruto and a slightly bewildered Kakashi. She knew the Copy-nin had some idea and that he doubted it. Their confusion told her to continue, so she did, "He was last seen by one of my informants in Mist. Sakura is conveniently stationed there right now and I'm nearly certain that she's his target. I'm sending you guys on the retrieval mission, but before that I need to ask you both some questions."

Kakashi and Naruto nodded obediently, extremely aware of the dire importance of the situation. There was not a smile in the room. Not a laugh. Not even an eyebrow quirk. It was nothing but straight and serious faces. The gray haired man knew exactly what the Hokage was getting at. There was definitely something going on with Sasuke and Sakura. Kakashi could only hope that his female student was aware of it. Otherwise, he had a feeling that he'd never see Sakura or Sasuke again.

"Do either of you know why Sakura hasn't talked to Sasuke since his return?" the blonde woman asked.

Naruto shook his head. Kakashi had never told him why Sasuke and Sakura were on the rocks; he'd only told him not to mention her in front of the Uchiha. At the time, he had asked why so many times that Kakashi usually indifferent face had turned into an icy glare. He never asked again and just did as he was told. If it were for the good of his teammates, he would do anything. Even hold them apart.

It seemed that today he would finally find out why. The blue-eyed young man turned to his ex-teacher and nodded, attempting to spur him on. Kakashi cleared his throat loudly and started, "It was six months or so ago when Sakura had fallen into a temporary coma." Both blondes nodded in response and Kakashi went on, "That coma occurred while Sasuke was under her care. Tsunade, I'm sure you remember putting her on his case. What I'm about to tell you will make you wish you hadn't."

"The coma was a symptom of the Mangekyo Sharingan. Sasuke used it on her." He muttered as eyes widened and then narrowed considerably, asking the same question: why didn't you tell me? Kakashi heard Naruto curse under his breath.

"I'll fucking kill him." Was heard throughout the room and both adults knew exactly who it had come from. Kakashi reached over to pat Naruto on the shoulder before uttering, "It gets worse."

"The Mangekyo manipulated the victim for seventy-two hours straight. The victim is at the will of his enemy the whole time. I can't imagine why he would use this on her, but when she finally woke from her coma, Sakura tried to lie to me about the entire thing. I'd been sitting in her hospital room for the entire thing, so I would have none of that. After some serious badgering, I discovered that Sasuke had used the Mangekyo to rape her for seventy-two hours." He prepared himself for the glares and was surprised when he was met with none. "I wanted to tell both of you, but she wouldn't let me. She told me that she would never forgive me if I did. I just couldn't see her upset anymore. It was selfish. I'm sorry." Kakashi told them, feeling the first rush of guilt.

His eyes traveled to his superior and he was shocked to find his own Hokage crying and whispering, "She wouldn't even tell me." The guilt stabbed him in the stomach again and when he turned to Naruto, it only got worse. Naruto looked like he was going to murder someone. Scratch that, he looked like he was going to tear someone to pieces. Kakashi bet Sasuke was the person he had in mind.

He hadn't seen Naruto this angry in such a long time. The blonde's hand was wrapped securely around the pendant Tsunade had given him. His knuckles were bone white and his teeth were gritted. It only took a few seconds for the pendant to dig into his skin, crimson draining from his hand. Still, he squeezed tighter. It didn't matter to him. The only thing that did was Sakura and the mission. A feminine hand snapped across the desk, grabbing the bloodied hand. "I know…" she whispered, "I love her too." Kakashi sat idle, unable to deal with the guilt. He was feeling the worse he had since Obito and Rin died.

"I don't know what her mission has to do with Sasuke. Probably nothing, but it's pretty safe to say that Sasuke is after Sakura and he doesn't have an innocent intent." Tsunade murmured, her face slightly grim. "As I said before, the two of you are going after him. Neji is with her now and I have no doubt that he will protect her with his life, but I fear that Neji isn't a match for Sasuke." She paused. "Hurry up and go." She ushered them out. Tsunade would be damned if she cried in front of them twice.

Kakashi was just about to follow Naruto out when he heard, "Kakashi…" He stopped dead and turned around to look at his blonde haired Hokage. He nodded to signal that she had his attention. "If you have to kill him…" she whispered, "I wont hold it against you. Just don't you dare let him hurt her again." The gray haired man saw the crystal tears in her eyes, but said nothing of them. Instead, he just whispered, "Yes, Hokage-sama."

Then he left, he and Naruto not bothering with packs. The only thing on both of their minds was a pink haired kunouichi. Kakashi hoped that she would stay safe until they got there, but he knew with Sasuke around, that would be impossible. Whatever Sasuke was up to, it wasn't good at all. Especially not for Sakura and Neji.

Neji stared at sakura. "Neji, something happened six months ago between Sasuke and I." she had said. His mind was jumping to all sorts of conclusions. He didn't know what to prepare for, so he prepared for the worse. Secretly, he hoped his assumption was wrong, because if it weren't, he'd have some serious Uchiha Clan ass to kick. Okay. Maybe, it wasn't so secret. Neji actually liked the idea of kicking Sasuke's ass quite a bit.

She watched him, trying to summon some more courage. At that moment, she would have done anything for some liquid courage. Her biggest fear was that he would see her as a weak woman. Would he see her as a useless ninja who couldn't even defend herself? For the sake of their blooming romance, she hoped he wouldn't. Sakura looked at the ground, getting her bearings to the best of her ability. For someone with perfect chakra control, she sure had no emotional control. Tears still leaked from the corner of her eyes when she spoke next, "When he returned from Orochimaru all battered and broken, I was assigned to be his medic. Everyone knew that there was bad blood between us, but Tsunade thought I could handle it. I thought I could too. Sasuke made me realize just how wrong I was."

Water continued to soak her cheeks but her voice held firm. Neji had to neglect the urge to wipe her tears away, when she spoke quietly, "Sasuke asked me why I wanted to heal him when he'd left me without a second thought. We were teammates and I couldn't just leave him and let him die. It's not the medic way. Getting to the point, we said some hurtful things and both of us were sarcastic. He lost his temper and pushed me against a wall. I don't know why, but I didn't scream." It was at this part that her voice cracked and more tears sprung loose. Neji didn't fight it anymore and his fingers wiped tears off her cheekbones.

"He kissed me and touched me. I bit him, but that only seemed to excite him. He had me pinned and by the time I realized what he was doing, it was too late. Sasuke used the Mangekyo on me and for seventy-two hours-" her voice trailed off. I can't do this. She thought as her eyes stayed planted on the floor. All her courage had drained out of her and was replaced with only dread and pain.

"What did he do?" Neji asked, his hands finding hers to give her whatever comfort he could. It was tearing him apart just seeing her like this. He could pretty much guess what she was about to say, but it didn't hurt any less when she did.

"He raped me." Her body shook terribly for a few minutes and all Neji could do was hold her and whisper to her. He kissed her temple trying to ease her. When a set of sobs rattled her entire body, he couldn't help the three words that fell from his lips: "I love you."

She turned wide eyes to his and the question was simple. "What?" she asked, unable to believe her own ears.

"I'm so sorry and I love you." He repeated kissing her neck gently. He wanted nothing more than to just make her smile a little and he hoped the little truth would do it. Would the fact that he'd fallen in love with her in less than three days enough to make her smile and stop crying? He really hoped it was. Otherwise, he'd have to go to Plan B.

There was no Plan B.

Ending Note:

I'm really sorry for not updating sooner. We have a new houseguest who is sleeping in our Computer Room on an air mattress. This situation limits my computer time and is quite frustrating. It's my sister's boyfriend. Blergh.

I got long nails for a ball I'm going to tomorrow and it was incredibly hard to type this. The stupid things would hit random keys and it bugs the hell out of me.

Enough excuses! Thanks for reading!

Please review… for my sake.

Edit: I had a lot of trouble uploading this. My first attempt was March 13th.

I don't know when I'll be able to update next. I'm back in school from Spring Break, so it's a little harder to find time, but I'll try to update as soon as I can. It also doesn't help much that my sister's boyfriend is sleeping with my computer. Sorry for bitching a lot.