A/N: Hope you enjoy! And I promise it'll get better!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Nartuo series…unfortunately :..(

Italics like this mean its thoughts in a characters head

A New Life

ShikaIno: 4

InoChou:

InoItachi:

InoKiba: 7

InoSai: 3

:) ShikaTema: 7

Ch. 11 Understanding

Sasuke glanced down at Sakura in his arms, she wasn't saying a word. She laid still leaning her face against his chest; it wasn't like her. The normal Sakura would complain about being carried or try to convince him she was fine. Sasuke's eyes narrowed a bit as he got closer to the nurse's office; he had a feeling her real wounds weren't physical. A startled woman glanced up from her desk as Sasuke managed to open the door and keep Sakura safe in his arms. The woman with thick glasses immediately stood up in alarm looking at Sasuke's heavily bruised and lightly bleeding body, "What happened!"

Sasuke looked in the woman's eyes, he had completely forgotten about his wounds, "Check her first." The nurse looked down in surprise not seeing a mark on the girl, "Where's she hurt?" Sasuke's eyes narrowed a bit at the memory as he put Sakura on a bed, "She received a blow to the back." The brunette woman nodded fighting her urge to check Sasuke first. Sakura sat dully on the edge of a bed staring at the floor; her mind was too foggy to really hear anything. The woman managed to get Sakura to turn around slightly disturbed by her lack of persona. She placed her hand on the edge of Sakura's shirt but turned to Sasuke first, "You have to turn around."

Sasuke gave a small frown in impatience and did so. Then the nurse lifted Sakura's gym shirt up a little past her bra strap. Sasuke flinched to turn around as he heard a small gasp escape her lips. He shifted awkwardly telling himself not to look but was overtaken by impatience and nerves as the nurse remained tensely silent. Sasuke's black eyes widened as there was a dark red impression, swelling, of Sai's fist just to the side of her spine; it would be bruised for weeks.

The nurse finally got a hold of her shock and yelled at him to turn back around. She gave a small sigh and worriedly looked at the forming bruise; there wasn't too much to do. It took her a few minutes but she put a small layer of gel to decrease the swelling, wrapped bandages around her, and tugged her shirt down. She made Sakura lay down on her stomach and she stood and filled a bag of ice, "Would you like to tell me what exactly happened?" Sasuke took that as his cue to turn around and watched as Sakura flinched lightly at the bag of ice being laid on her back. Sasuke stared at the nurse with a defiant frown.

The brunette nurse gave a small, agitated sigh and told him to sit so she could tend to his wounds, "Whatever you two got into will be heard by the principal later so you might as well say it now." Sasuke avoided eye contact as she cleaned off the small spots of blood, "Then why should I tell it twice?" The nurse's lips curved in an angry smirk, "Because you children need to start telling us adults what's going on so we can help."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed, "We're not children." The nurse frowned, wrapping his bandages a little too tight, "Young adults, whatever! But you're still minors and can't handle everything yourself no matter how hard you try." Sasuke groaned lightly to himself; she was quite persistent, "An idiot started a fight with me and hit her when she got in the way."

The nurse's eyebrow perked up, "Oh…So he hit a girl? Well that idiot could've broken vertebrae if he was a fraction of an inch closer to her spine." Sasuke's expression darkened; he was going to destroy Sai. The brunette nurse continued treating his injuries as Sasuke glanced at Sakura. It looked like they were making eye contact but Sakura's jade orbs were distant in thought; she wasn't really paying attention to what was around her. Sasuke glanced back at the nurse as she sighed and stood, done treating his wounds. "Well, after you explain to Tsunade I would say it's your option to continue through the day or not."

Sasuke nodded lightly and glanced at the pinkette, "What about her?" The nurse glanced at Sakura too, whose eyes were almost closed, "There's the rest of this class and the next one till you leave so it's probably she rests here and then just stay comfortable when she gets home." Sasuke kept his eyes on Sakura and gave an immediate response, "I'll stay." The nurse nodded not bothering to comment on his attentiveness to Sakura; besides Sasuke really did need to stay. He couldn't skip two days of class in a row.

After the nurse filed her records of the incident Sasuke left and was sent to Tsunade's office. The nurse gathered her things as he left and put them in a medical box. She turned to tell Sakura she had to treat the idiot that hit her but Sakura was far too lost in thought to hear. Sakura's eyes dulled, not noticing the door open and close, she was tired. She was tired of having to deal with Sai again; he broke her heart and then comes back saying he wanted her. She thought he was just being psychotic but to get in a fight with Sasuke over her...she didn't know what to think. To be honest, she was done with Sai. There was no chance of him getting her back now that she finally removed every trace of him from her heart.

But then…then there was Sasuke. Everything was starting to go back to normal but she was still so confused over his reaction to Sasori hitting on her. She knew she was being impatient but the confusion was driving her insane and she wasn't sure how long she could take waiting for him to figure it out. She also didn't want to let the event give her hope when Sasuke wasn't the kind of person to fall in love. Sakura tightened her hand lightly around the fabric of the pillow. I wonder if I could ever get him to like me…

_Principal's office_

Tsunade signed a few papers while sitting at her desk and glanced dully at some more paperwork for school budget. How she wished for something less boring. On cue of her thought she heard a knock at her door and looked up to see a bruised and bandaged Uchiha. She took that thought back, "Damn it…what'd you do?" Sasuke kept his cold, frowning face on as he shut the door behind him, "Guess" Tsunade glared at him, "Did you and Naruto get in a fight again?"

Normally Sasuke would smirk at the memory of how Naruto could never beat him but he kept the cold look on his face, "Your moronic new student started a fight with me and badly hurt Sakura." Tsunade kicked the inside of her desk and groaned at the problem; this meant so much more paperwork, "Where's Sai and Sakura?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "Sakura's resting in the nurse's office and the hell I care about where Sai is." Tsunade frowned and stood giving Sasuke a harsh look, "Don't give me an attitude! Now…where was the fight so I can watch the tapes?"

Sasuke kept a hard face; still annoyed by the whole event, "In and out of the west exit of the gym." Tsunade nodded and pointed at a chair, "Good, now sit. I'm going to go watch." Sasuke growled lightly at he sat down in a comfortable grey tan chair; last time he fought with Naruto it took an hour to get this over with. Sasuke glanced up as he heard the door open again too soon for Tsunade to get back. He cocked an eyebrow as his best friend shut the door and gave a dumb grin, "You look horrible Teme."

Sasuke sighed as Naruto sat in a chair next to him, "What are you doing?" Naruto gave a small laugh, "I'm a witness! Plus I figured I'd get in trouble for punching Sai anyways." Sasuke sighed again and nodded looking out the window, "What happened after I left?" Naruto stared at the ceiling running over it in his mind, "Well Ino flipped out on Gai-sensei about the whole thing, it was kinda funny. Then after standing around confused for a while he made everyone get back in the gym and sit down. He tried to get the story out of Sai but he wouldn't speak. After that I decided to leave the same time the nurse stormed in to yell at and treat Sai."

Sasuke nodded almost wanting to smirk from imagining the nurse telling Sai off. Instead he rolled his eyes to the side of the room where a very unhappy Tsunade marched in. She glared at Naruto for a bit, actually happy she didn't have to go get him, and shut the door. She leaned against the side of her desk, crossing her arms and giving an unhappy look, "I think you two were born to make my life harder."

Naruto gave a small laugh; he couldn't count how many times they'd been in her office, "Sorry Baa-chan…" She gave a sigh and rubbed her temples, "Yeah well violence is violence no matter who started it." Tsunade stared a while at the two best friends trying to decide what punishment to give. She didn't want to suspend them; it was pointless making them miss class for something they didn't start. She tapped her fingers through the tense silence knowing she needed to decide soon before Sai came in; it would pure idiocy to put them in the same room, "You will both participate in our community service project this month and have a week of detention. Naruto that detention will add on to what I gave you yesterday."

Naruto groaned and banged his head on the back of the chair, "But Baa-chan!" Tsunade frowned, "No buts, I could have made it a lot worse, and don't take my lenience as a habit. I just don't exactly blame you for your actions…I might have done the same." The two teens raised their eyebrows. The blonde principal glanced hard at them, "But if you tell anybody I said that I'll have you do community service and detention for the rest of the year!" The boys gave a quick nod and left after receiving paperwork on their punishment.

Sai was later brought in and the two friends went back to class. In the end the gang was filled in on injuries and punishment while Sai was suspended for a week. The last class was dragged out as Sai was sent home and Sakura slept in the infirmary. Hinata was the one to take Sakura home in a rather large car so Sakura could lie down on her stomach and avoid pressure on her back. The pinkette was immediately sent to bed with a fresh pack of ice while Hinata filled Mr. Haruno in on the details over the phone.

Mr. Haruno spent the rest of the day tending to his daughter and unable to help being worried sick. Sakura stayed home the next day after convincing her father to go to work and Ino brought over what she missed in class and the amusing moments she missed that day. Ino said she'd let the secrecy thing go but demanded an earful when she felt better. As a result of her injury Sasuke never came over to work on the project so she could rest and instead spent his time still trying to figure out what was with him.

Sakura spent most of the weekend reading books and watching movies with her father; they hadn't really spent anytime together since they moved. Sakura finally caved and told her father that Sai had followed her here and he was the "unknown boy" that injured her. His reaction was rather dramatic and angry, but at Sai of course. Mr. Haruno knew how cruel their break up was and already wanted to beat him, now he wanted to kill him. After Sakura calmed him down she found his reaction reassuring; he was her only parent left and it was nice to know he was still there for her.

Then the weekend was over and the dreaded day came that Sakura and her father hated to remember.

_morning_

Naruto yawned walking in the classroom and set his briefcase on his desk, "I really hate Mondays." Kiba rubbed his eyes, "Me too, Man." Hinata and Ino later filed in and much to Sasuke's notice Sakura wasn't with them. He narrowed his eyes and glanced at Ino, "I thought she was starting to feel better?" Ino nodded and gave an awkward look as her friends awaited for an answer, "She is, but she said she had something important to do today. I couldn't really get any details out of her."

Sasuke's frown deepened; Sakura wasn't the kind of person to skip school. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked at the empty desk beside him; he still hadn't figured anything out yet.

_Haruno residence_

Sakura silently ran a brush through her long hair and braided it to the side. She gave a small sigh as she rubbed the wrinkles out of her sleeves black dress. The dress went an inch above her knee and had a silver band around the waist. She looked good in it but how pretty she looked was the last thing on her mind. She put her black flats and silver stud earrings on and walked out the door after grabbing a purse. She tensely walked down the stairs and gave a sad smile at her father's tense body. He was dressed in a dark grey collared work shirt with black pants and shoes. He looked up hearing her walk down the stairs and gave a forced smile, "You ready?" Sakura gave a small nod and took a deep breath, "Yeah, let's go."

Today was the ten year anniversary of Sakura's mother's death; the day her body gave out to cancer. The car ride was about an hour long and it was tense to say at least. Neither of them could help thinking about the pinkette's woman's final days. The days where she was so frail and had no hair left on her head. The days where her beautiful sky blue eyes were dulling. It was the most heart wrenching days of their life; not even Sai's cruel break up could be close enough to top it.

Sakura took a slow breath as they drove past places she used to know so well, the places she used to go with both her parents. Her expression tightened a bit as they passed the stairs to a temple where the Haruno family spent their last New Years festival together; she couldn't believe it had been ten years. Sakura's heart tightened as they pulled up to the parking lot in front of the cemetery. She gripped her hands around the blue irises they bought along the way; it was her mother's favorite flower. Her face tightened as her and her father got out of the car and started making their way up to a spot they remembered too well.

Sakura bit her lip as she stared at a stone grave with a familiar name engraved under a cherry blossom tree, Hanami Haruno. She took a deep breath and laid the flowers in front of the grave, "Hey Mom…" Her father placed a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to continue. Sakura looked down and fiddled with the end of her braid, "I know it's been a while…We actually moved again to the next town over, pretty ironic huh?" The breeze blew a few cherry blossom petals in Sakura's direction. Sakura gave a small smile, "I'm seventeen now and almost done with high school. Just a little more than a year…I actually like this move the best, I've made a lot of good friends in such a short time. I'm pretty lucky…"

Sakura gave a sad laugh and looked up at her father's withered face. Mr. Haruno took that as his cue, "Hey Honey…I wish you could see how pretty Sakura is, she looks a lot like you now." Sakura's face tightened. "We're doing well; busy as ever…I always keep up with the flower gardens since you liked them so much. I've actually gotten pretty good at cooking too, can you believe that?" Sakura frowned at her father's fake laugh. "I think you would've liked our new home a lot too, it's pretty calm and has a lot of nice scenery."

The remaining Haruno's remained still for a moment and Mr. Haruno patted Sakura's shoulder, "I left something in the car, I'll be back in a few minutes." Sakura smiled and nodded; she knew that was his way of giving her some alone time. She took a deep breath as her father walked away and stared at her mother's name engraved on the stone. She envisioned her mother's beautiful, smiling face and gave a bittersweet smile, "I miss you…You left too soon. You didn't get to be there to help be through my first break up or take me shopping when I was younger…I wish you could help me with a guy I really like right now…"

Sakura's eyes brightened slightly at the thought, "His name is Sasuke-kun, a guy was bothering me the day we moved and he saved me. He always seems to be saving me…I go to school with him too; he's really mysterious and doesn't smile much but he has a good heart. The situation is kind of troublesome right now…but I think it'll be worked out soon. He means a lot to me…I wish you could meet him." Her throat swelled up a little, "It's really hard…not having you around. Dad misses you too. I catch him staring at a picture of you sometimes…he looks so sad."

Sakura gripped the edge of her dress and stared back at the ground, "There's so much I wish I could show you, that you could help me with." Sakura tightened her jaw for a moment, "I try not too, but I get sad whenever I watch a girl walking around with her mother. They seem so happy…" Sakura rubbed her tearing eyes, "But it's okay…I mean, there's nothing I can do so there's no point in getting upset, right?" Sakura rubbed her eyes again as a single tear fell down her cheek, "I'm such a mess…but I'll be okay, I just miss you." Sakura stood up and wiped the grass off her skirt after hearing her father near by. She gave a small smile feeling like there was less weight on her shoulders, "I love you."

_At school_

Sasuke fought the urge to yawn as he sat through his last class; they were watching a boring documentary. He glanced back over at Sakura's empty desk for the hundredth time today and deepened his frown; it was boring without her there. Sakura added an extra amount of brightness to his day; just seeing her smile or hearing laugh made his day less dull. It was fascinating how much her personality could make a difference to his day. Sasuke tilted his head as there was a knock on the door. Yamato was told something after opening the door that he couldn't hear but from the stare he assumed it had to do with him. Yamato stared into Sasuke's bored eyes, "Sasuke you have a phone call in the office, bring your stuff."

_a few minutes before in a distant city_

Mikoto slid her heels off in the hotel room as her and husband got back from a meeting. She gave an exhausted sigh and sat down on a chair as Fugaku looked through some emails on his phone, "I can't wait till Itachi finishes college and starts doing some of these meetings for us." Fugaku nodded, "If he took his mind off girls for a while he could finish a year early." Mikoto smiled, "Now Now, I don't want him missing the chance of finding me a cute daughter in law."

Fugaku loosened his tie, "I thought you were fully happy with having Sakura as a future daughter in law." Mikoto's smile brightened, "Of course I am but Sasuke is so slow! Besides there's no harm with two of them." Mikoto gave a happy sigh, "To think Sasuke is spending time with my future daughter in law right now…" Fugaku glanced at her mildly amused at her involvement in their son's love lives, "Actually she's probably not at school." Mikoto's smile dropped as she cocked an eyebrow, "Why not?"

Fugaku rubbed the back of his neck, "Her father took the day off work. It's her mother's death anniversary and he wanted to visit her grave; I highly doubt Sakura wouldn't go too." Mikoto gave a small gasp, "And you didn't tell me!" Fugaku raised his eyebrows, "Sorry…" Mikoto stood and paced around the room, "Oh my poor girl, she's probably so upset right now…" Fugaku felt cold sweat on the back of his neck as he saw a spark go through his wife's eyes. "What town are they in?"

He rubbed the back of his neck knowing not to get in the way of whatever she was planning, "I think he said Nagoya, but-" Before he could comment further Mikoto had already dialed her phone with a devious smile on her face, "Hi Shizune, It's Mikoto Uchiha. Could I speak to my son please?" Fugaku sighed and sat on the couch in their massive room rubbing his temples. Here we go…

"Hi sweetie, I need you to do me a favor…Yes now…There's a package in Nagoya I need you to get, it's really important…I don't care if you miss class, you need to go now it's critical…What do you mean you have detention?" Fugaku frowned at the statement and her stern voice; his boys didn't get in trouble.

Sasuke sighed on the other side of the line, he could usually hide whenever he got in trouble because they were never home, "Exactly what I said, I have detention…I got in a fight." Sasuke ears tensed at the loud worrying and yelling, "I'm fine, because…He punched a friend…why does it matter?" Sasuke narrowed his eyed at her stern voice he hardly heard, "He punched Sakura…"

Mikoto stiffened as she tightened her fist on the other line, she was going to murder whoever he fought with, "I'll take care of your detention, you just do what I told you and…I'm proud of you. You did the right thing." Mikoto smiled a little at the surprised silence over the phone, "Now let me talk to Tsunade and hurry up, I'll tell you the details later!"

_in Nagoya_

Sakura and her father sat in a new restaurant for lunch not feeling comfortable in places they last spent with her mother. Mr. Haruno took a sip of his coffee after handing the menus back to the waitress, "This place is nice." Sakura nodded and glanced around, it had that kind of waitresses on roller-skates feel, just a little nicer. She glanced at a clock; school would be getting out in about an hour. She thought over the last stressful day she went to school…she never found out what the punishments were. Thinking about that made the pain in her back increase.

Today it was just kind of like an annoyance she couldn't ignore but whenever she put pressure on the bruise it hurt horridly. With that in mind she had been leaned over more making sure her back wasn't even close to touching the back of the seat. The long car ride here had really defeated the whole purpose in her taking pain killers that morning. Mr. Haruno frowned fully aware of her uncomfortable shifting, "Does your back still hurt?" He had never seen the severity of the bruise so he was completely unaware it was basically black and would be there for weeks.

Sakura gave a reassuring smile, "Just a little, it's not a big deal." The pain was actually kind of intense but she didn't want to worry her father when it was already such a dreadful day. Lunch consisted of just brief talking they didn't want to mention her mother but it was all they could think about. The cheerful waitress walked up as they were near done with their food, "Does everything taste alright?" They both nodded and Mr. Haruno gave back a nice smile, "Yes it's very good, thank you." Afterwards he soon paid the bill and unsure of what to do.

Her father rubbed the back of his neck, "I was thinking about driving past the old house, maybe seeing how different the neighborhood looks. You could say hey to a few old friends." Sakura smiled, mildly missing her childhood friends, "That's sounds nice but I was actually thinking about walking around town, seeing what I've missed…" Her father gave a soft nod kind of getting the feeling she wanted to be alone, "Okay, well how about we meet back in an hour or so, you have your phone right?" Sakura nodded and they went their separate ways.

It was very awkward walking through a town she used to know by heart, a lot had changed. At some point she thought she recognized a few girls her age in the high school uniform she was suppose to wear if she stayed. She was tempted to ask but decided to let it be; she hadn't spoken to them in years. Her and her father moved away a few months after her mother passed away and after a while in her new home her childhood friends stopped writing letters. Sakura doubted they would even remember her if it wasn't for her pink hair.

Sakura sighed as she continued walking and looked up at the sky; it looked like it would rain soon.

_a different part of town_

Sasuke sighed as he parked in front of the store his mother demanded he go to, it was a freaking jewelry store. He sighed stepping out of the car under the graying sky and headed into the store. He was met by polite, smiling faces and many greetings. He nodded and headed over to the front desk, "I need a package ordered by Mikoto Uchiha." The woman a little less than ten years older than him took a full look at him and gave a flirtatious smile, "Can I see some ID first, store protocol." Sasuke fought the urge to groan as he pulled out his license and her smile widened. "Alright, here you go."

She pulled out a box, protectively covered, and handed it to him, "Is there anything else I can help you with Uchiha-sama?" Sasuke purposefully ignored her leaning over the desk and showing as much cleavage as she could, "No" He quickly walked out much to her disappointment and received a few giggles from her co-workers. Sasuke put the box in his car and prepared to leave but was bothered by his hungry stomach. He sighed getting back out after grabbing an umbrella due to the darkening sky and headed to a near by restaurant.

He ate fast taking no interest in staying here longer than he had to; he still had to drive for over an hour to get home. After paying the bill and ignoring more flirts he got up and was perfectly set on leaving, but then much to his surprise he saw a familiar pinkette across the street. He narrowed his eyes as it looked like she was arguing with a brunette and two girls behind her. Sasuke opened his umbrella as he impatiently waited to cross the street, it had started raining.

Sakura frowned narrowing her jade eyes at the girls in front of her, "I don't think that's any of your business Ami." Ami and her two friends laughed; Ami was basically her childhood bully and apparently she couldn't miss out on the chance to pick up her old habit when she saw Sakura's pink head. Ami gave a sly smile, "You know you're right, I shouldn't ask. It's probably hard being reminded of how many guys can't stand to be around you, you're just so ugly." Sakura gave a sick laugh, "Have you looked in the mirror lately?" Ami fumed and stomped her foot, "Shut up Freak! You're just jealous, guys beg me to go out with them."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Yeah, I'm sure. Now if you don't mind I have more important things to do than catch up with you." Ami gave a haughty laugh, "You're just to chicken to admit how much you idolize me." Sakura sighed, her temper rising, today really wasn't the day. Sakura blinked in surprise as she felt the rain stop falling and the three girls mocking her expressions change. "Is there a problem here?"

Sakura looked up at the familiar voice to Sasuke now sharing his black umbrella with her and glaring at the three girls in front of her, "Sasuke-kun? The three girls automatically went to flirt mode at the breathing taking teen before them. Ami flipped her hair to the side and gave a big smile, "Hi I'm Ami, Why don't you ditch that ugly freak and come spend time with me." Sasuke frowned as Sakura rolled her eyes, "If I'm supposed to ditch the ugly freak wouldn't I be ditching you?"

Sakura held in a small laugh as her old childhood enemy turned red and squealed in anger. Before Ami could scream in embarrassment and anger Sasuke put his arm around Sakura's shoulders and turned around guiding her with him, "Let's go." Sakura's heart started beating too fast from his arm around her to hear Ami's agitated yelling. Sasuke didn't even seem to notice the importance of his arm around her as they walked farther down the street. Sakura blinked and blushed staring at his face trying to figure out the situation, "Sasuke-kun, what are you doing here?"

Sasuke gave a mild smirk, "Should I leave?" Sakura stammered, "N-No, I just…I don't understand why you're in Nagoya." Sasuke kept staring forward making sure not to run in to people, "Had to pick something up for my parents; what about you? You're not the kind of person to skip school." He finally looked down at her noticing that she was now staring at the ground, "What's wrong?"

She shook her head to motion she was fine, "Nothing, I uh…I used to live here when I was a kid. My father and I came to visit." Sasuke watched her for a moment knowing he wasn't getting the whole story but not sure if he should push further, "Any reason why you didn't wait till the weekend?" He could feel Sakura stiffen from under his arm. Sakura glanced at the rain splashing on the side walk; he was bound to find out sooner or later, "We were visiting my mother's grave. It's her death anniversary…"

Sasuke's eyes widened and he stopped dead in the road, losing his hold on Sakura. She looked back at him after taking a step forward and gave a weak smile, "What's with the face?" Sasuke blinked watching the way her eyes gave away her hidden emotions, "I had no idea…" Sakura widened her fake smile, "It's okay, it's not a big deal." Sasuke frowned, it was a big deal. He could tell by the look in her eyes it was a big deal and she wasn't okay with it. He took a step closer so she was back under the umbrella and placed his hand on the top of her head and pulled her into his shoulder, "You don't have smile around me."

Sakura's jade eyes widened and her smile slowly fell. She felt her throat swell up and she narrowed her eyes trying to push the feeling to the back of her mind, it wasn't working. She leaned her forehead into his chest so he couldn't see her face; she didn't like showing her weak side. Sasuke looked forward keeping his hand on her head as he felt her body tense up and his shirt starting to become wet. He wasn't very good at comforting people, that was more of Naruto's thing, but he was doing the best he could.

Sakura's expression tightened as a few more tears fell down her face and she shoved a sob back down her throat; she was so tired. After all these years she still couldn't get over her mother's death; watching her once lively mother wither away to illness would be forever engraved in her mind. Then she also had to deal with all the crap Sai was giving her and the confusion over Sasuke's behavior the other day, it was overwhelming. Sasuke ran his hand through her hair a few times trying to show farther comfort. After a while her body finally relaxed and her face dried. Sasuke watched as she finally lifted her face from his chest and looked down at the ground as she rubbed her eyes, "Sorry…"

Sasuke continued watching her, "It's okay." Sakura gave a small sigh smile, she actually felt a little better, and hoped Sasuke would ignore the red rims to her eyes, "Do you want to get out of the rain?" Sasuke nodded glad she was doing a little better, "You lead the way." They walked almost shoulder to shoulder under the umbrella to a coffee shop Sakura knew but never went in as a kid. They sat in a booth when they got inside, sitting across from each other. Sasuke took a sip of his coffee welcoming the warmth it gave him, "You been here before?"

Sakura shook her head after taking a sip of hot chocolate, "No, I just used to pass it a lot." He nodded, "How long did you live here?" Sakura circled her thumb over her warm cup, "About seven years, from the time I was born till a few months after my mother died. It was the longest I stayed in one place." Sasuke narrowed his eyebrows, "Was it too hard to stay here?"

Sakura stared at her drink for a moment, "I guess, I think my father noticed it more than myself though. We didn't really plan on moving but there was a location transfer at work and he decided to take it." Sasuke gave a slow nod, "It was probably the best thing." Sakura gave a solemn nod in agreement, "Yeah…It was hard being in a place where everything reminded us of her." Sasuke watched as she took another sip of her drink, "Do you mind telling me how she passed away?"

Sakura hesitated for a moment and shook her head, "No…She died of cancer, we found out a little too late. There was still a good chance of her fighting it off but, um...she eventually lost all her motivation." Sasuke's eyes narrowed as Sakura stared at her reflection in her drink; he could tell she hadn't talked about it in a long time. Sakura took a slow breath, "She was pregnant with my little sister when we found out…She uh, lost my sister because of the cancer…She blamed herself for losing her and just…gave up."

Sasuke could feel his heart drop; he had no idea it was so bad. The fact that she was actually keep a straight face while telling the story was incredible. Their attention was diverted as Sakura got a text from her father. Sakura tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, "I have to go soon; my father is heading back this direction." Sasuke gripped his coffee cup, "I'll take you home." Sakura looked up in confusion; he was telling her more than offering, "Thanks…"

After Sakura told her father Sasuke would take her, there was a tense silence. Sasuke glanced around for a while and finally noticed Sakura leaning on the table to avoid her back touching anything, "How's your back?" Sakura glanced up at his serious face, "Better, what about you?" Sasuke shrugged, "Just a few bruises, they're almost gone." The conversation continued into Sasuke detailing all the punishments received and he later paid the bill. They soon left due to the long drive and school the next day. The car ride was pretty calm; Sasuke actually made Sakura laugh a few times and by the end of the ride she was in a much better mood.

Sakura took her seatbelt off as Sasuke pulled into her driveway and turned giving him a genuine smile, "Thanks for the ride." Sasuke nodded and he looked back at her, "Anytime" Sakura smile increased as she leaned over and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you for being there for me." Sasuke eyes widened and he felt the back of his neck heat up. He sat speechless as she let go and gave one more smile before getting out of the car. His dark eyes traced her as she walked up to her front door and gave another smile in his direction.

Something stirred in Sasuke and all the wheels turned in his head and his jaw dropped slightly. I like her…

_author's notes_

So yeah Sasuke finally figured out his feelings. I know the chapter was a little more depressing than usual but there was a happy ending right :) Hopefully you guys thought the Haruno's emotion was really realistic and you liked the added information on Sakura's mother's death. I'll be updating kinda slow again because my art portfolio for school is due soon and I'm really behind but please review and I'll update as fast as I can!