Chapter 11: The Rose and the Wolf
"The world is full of sins"
Something soft was tickling him. Sasuke's nose twitched, hoping the sensation would stop, but it didn't. Grudgingly, he turned his head to avoid it. But the damn object was insistent as it curled at his throat. He cursed as he was forced to open his eyes. His onyx eyes squinted angrily at the pink mass of hair on his arm.
Without thinking he pushed back the hair softly to reveal a sleepy Sakura.
Her head lay against his biceps and his right arm was thrown over her waist. Sasuke woke up that morning with such satisfaction. He stared at her, intrigued by her soft snores. Sasuke raised his hand and cupped her cheek. His thumb softly traced her along the cheekbone. When she looked innocent and pure, free of care from this…this—
Tainted world
Sakura's lip curved in a smiled and nuzzled Sasuke's palm with her cheek. His face expression didn't change, but he was secretly delighted by her actions.
He lightly skimmed his fingertips up and down her arm, loving the way her soft skin felt under his callous. The sun rays slipped past her blinds, spilling deliciously over Sakura. Her skin radiated with life, her hair shone with health. It was purely fascinating. She mumbled his name and snuggled her face into the pillow.
Sasuke leaned towards her, skimming his lips over her softly.
Sakura opened her green eyes and Sasuke's breath hitched. Her eyes were smoky, swirling with emotions. But that one feeling, which stood out left him breathless:
Love
"Hi," She smiled as she sat up from her bed, rubbed her eyes from the sleep. "What time is it?"
He turned around and read the time. "It's 7:15,"
"Oh," Sakura smiled and cuddled next to him. A second later her eyes snapped open. "We're late for school!" She jumped over Sasuke and ran down the hallway, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Sasuke! Get ready for school! We have to be there by 7:30!"
After a major headache in the morning, both of the students raced inside of the school. Sasuke grasped onto Sakura's hand, bringing out a good feeling deep inside of her. When they had entered the class, the students 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed about their open relationship. Sasuke reluctantly released Sakura's hand and they went to their desks.
Sakura sighed. Now she wished that Kakashi-sensei had let Sasuke sit near her.
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by…
Me
About two hours later, Sakura raised her hand. "Kakashi-sensei, may I go to the restroom?" At his nod, she got up and started walking to the door.
"Can I use the restroom?"
The whole class turned around in shock to see Sasuke talking. Many of the students mouths were dropped open in surprise. If someone had really good eyes, they could see the anxiety that played in his eyes.
Kakashi-sensei saw it. "She's not going to get kidnapped, Sasuke. She's just going to the restroom. You can use it after she comes back." He turns to Sakura. "Can you come back fast so your boyfriend doesn't explode from concern?"
"Yes, I can," She squeaked.
The class gasped and immediately started whispering amongst each other.
"They're going out?"
"He's her new boyfriend?"
"She didn't correct Kakashi-sensei when he said 'boyfriend'!"
"Ohh, what is Idate going to do?"
"Come back in five minutes, Ms. Haruno," Kakashi-sensei handed her the bathroom pass and waved her away. "I expect you to be on time in order to learn more about the poem written by the English poet: Edgar Allen Poe,"
Sakura nodded. Her face was beet red as she dashed for the door.
"Ino make sure that Sasuke doesn't disappear," Kakashi-sensei's reverberating voice made Sakura's face burn more in embarrassment.
…But our love-it was stronger by far than the love
Of the wise
And the old
She walked outside of the building, down the hallway where she could smell the fresh air and see the birds chirping. The bathroom was outside of the school building, something that the administrators have been thinking about reconstructing so that it would be inside the building. They weren't starting soon though.
As she walked down the hallway, she noticed how possessive and protective he was today. She smiled at that thought and liked it for a bit. It was nice to think about someone who was there to protect you; a knight on a white horse. She shook her head as she smiled, continued to walk to the restroom.
Suddenly, a hand slammed in front of her face, creating a loud noise as it smashed to the wall, bringing out a horrified gasp from her. Sakura's eyes widened when she saw Idate and his three friends behind him. Idate had this sneer on his face that triggered fear deep inside of her.
"So, I've heard that you've been making moves on the American transfer student," Idate spat with disgust. His eyes glittered with anger as his three friends smirked from behind. "You have no idea how much that pisses me off,"
Sakura tried to step around him but it was impossible. "Idate, we broke up already. Go away," She said softly.
Idate didn't listen. He snapped his fingers and two of his friends pinned her arms against the wall.
"Let me go!" She struggled but they only tightened their grasp. It was strong enough to make a permanent mark on her arm.
"You indispicable whore," Idate scoffed. "I've went out with you for two years and all I got was a peck on the cheek. You didn't even start to go out with him and he got a hot kiss,"
"What are you talking about?"
"This," Idate held up a picture of Sasuke and Sakura.
She was leaning into Sasuke's kiss with her hands clenching tightly to the front of his shirt. One of his hands was cupping her cheek and the other was at the back of her neck, pulling her closer to him. One of the corners of Sasuke's lips curved upwards; he was smiling. Her heart started to beat fast.
When Idate moved his finger slightly, she saw that he had a lot of copies in his hand.
Of that exact photo
"Where did you get that?"
"It doesn't matter where I got it," Idate threw the photos at her; she cried out in pain when the pictures hit her face. The wind pushed the many photos to a farther distance. He stepped closer to her and grinned madly. "Now, I'm here to collect my reward from the past two years,"
He stepped closer, that devilish grin on his face created an atmosphere of terror. Idate smiled when he saw the fear in her. "Don't make anything harder than it is,"
Sakura instantly lashed out her leg and kicked him hard in the stomach. Idate gasped and flew back. His back painfully hit the wall behind him and he fell to the ground.
Sakura looked at him, full of courage and power. That all disappeared when Idate jumped from the floor, stomped towards her. He brought his hand back and slapped her in the face.
"Goddamn you," He brought his hand back once more to slap her.
Sakura tightly closed her eyes, waiting for the hit.
A delicate hand grabbed Idate's wrist. "Hey, what do you think you're doing?" The voice was heavily accented.
Sakura opened her eyes to see Karin standing there with an furious look on her face. "Leave Sah-KOO-Rah alone!" With amazing strength, she pulled Idate away and glared at his friends. "If you hurt her, I'll-"
"American whore! Let go of my boyfriend," Ami appeared out of nowhere, the wrath on her face was obvious. Ami's face darkened when she noticed that the American Japanese girl was going to protect Sakura. She cursed.
She was ruining her PERFECT plan.
"Ami," Sakura said softly.
Idate's friends let go of Sakura's arms and backed away slowly. They could see the fury on Ami's face and the deadly glint in Karin's eyes. The glint she had in her eyes that reminded everyone there that women were far more bloodthirsty than men.
A war was going to break out.
"You," Ami spat. She walked up to Karin and shoved her finger in her face with accusation. "How dare you touch my boyfriend!" Idate stood behind Ami with a smug look on his face.
"Ami-" Sakura started to defend Karin.
"Shut up, bitch!" Ami hissed.
"Don't call her a bitch, you slut!" Karin stood in front of Sakura so Ami was forced to deal with her. "You're suppose to fighting with me, not Sah-KOO-Rah!"
Ami laughed cruelly, along with Idate and his friends.
"She can't even speak Japanese good!"
"What a dumbass,"
"You can expect that from an American slut,"
Karin's face twisted with indefinable fury. She stepped up to one of Idate's friends who made the last comment. Her arm shot out and a loud noise echoed through the hallway.
He dropped to his knees and howled as he held his nose. Blood began to rush between his fingers. "The fucking bitch broke my nose!" The other two goons quickly went to his side. Idate stared at Karin with shock as Ami stood there, the confidence smirk wiped off her face.
"You see, I can do that to your face like that," Karin snapped her fingers as she leered at Ami evilly. "And I didn't even break a sweat, breaking his nose," She laughed, her voice beautiful as it rang down the hall. "Once you start a fight with Karin, you just signed a contract with the devil,"
Ami glared at Karin. "Stay away from my boyfriend!"
"What you scared of a foreign student grabbing at your boyfriend?" Karin raked her eyes at Idate, who smiled seductively behind Ami. "I have fresh meat like him everyday before school," She flipped her hair over her shoulder.
The expression on Idate's face said that he wouldn't mind being the fresh meat.
"And besides, I don't like little boys," Karin threw at his face.
Ami's shriek of rage made Sakura smile slightly.
The atmosphere suddenly went dark. Sakura felt a shiver run up her spine as she turned around to look down the hallway. She could feel his presence like a tangible touch. There she saw her savior—
Sasuke
She saw relief in his eyes a second before it was replaced with anger.
Sasuke stood there, relief filled his body when he saw that Sakura was still on school grounds. Anger flowed through his veins when he saw Idate and Ami.
Worse of all—Karin
When he took a step towards them, but suddenly stopped when he felt something crumple underneath his shoe. He looked down and bent down to pick up the picture. He stared at the picture for a long time before lifting his eyes to Idate.
His gaze was severe and cutting with its intensity.
Everybody flinched from his gaze.
Everybody except Sakura
Idate cursed when he felt the deadly gaze on him. He had a demeanor that said he relished cruelty and he was here for blood. Idate couldn't help but visibly tremble. Ami flinched away and hid behind Idate and his friends. He cursed. He was in this mess now because of her. Idate needed to do something—
Fast
When Karin saw Sasuke picked up the paper on the ground, she noticed that there were multiple pieces of paper on the ground. All of them were copies. She bent down to pick them up and took a good look at it.
She stared at the picture with wide eyes.
This picture would make him happy.
Because it was the confirmation she needed.
Quickly and discreetly, Karin slipped the picture in her pocket.
Sakura was about to approach Sasuke, when Idate shoved past her with his goons trailing behind him. "Idate, don't do this," She warned.
"What?" He threw over his shoulder as he sized Sasuke up. "You don't want me to hurt your bitch?" Idate smirked as he leaned towards the Japanese American student. "So, do you and the slut have a good time fucking each other's brains out?"
"Idate-" Sakura warned again. She knew what Sasuke was capable of. And Idate wouldn't last five seconds.
"Shut up, whore!" Idate smirked when he noticed nothing changed in Sasuke's face. No expression or emotion flickered in his eyes or was shown on his face. Idate laughed along with his friends. "Looks like Japanese American retard doesn't have anything to say," He was ready to battle with the devil himself if he had to.
Everything was getting out of hand.
"Step away from me," His deep commanding voice shivered down Ami's spine. This man was no joke.
Idate's smirk froze on his face. Fear was rushing through his mind. But because of his pride and his reputation, he stepped closer to Sasuke. "What are you going to do? Hit me?"
Karin could sense the rage that was swelling inside of Sasuke. Luckily, he was holding it back
Sasuke just stood there. He narrowed his eyes when Idate lifted his hand and poked him in the shoulder hard. He wanted to kill this—boy. His eyes shifted from his face to see Sakura over his shoulder. Her hands were twisting at each other in worry and concern. He looked at her face to see that there was a red mark.
He shifted his eyes back to Idate and knew what happened.
He had slapped her.
Instead of beating Idate to a pulp, like he had wanted to, Sasuke sidestepped around the pack of wannabe thugs and walked towards Sakura.
"Idate, leave him alone!" Sakura yelled.
As Sasuke moved past them, Idate shoved at him. Sasuke's reaction was swift and violent. He slammed his fist straight into Idate's face. Idate hit the ground hard as his friends jumped Sasuke.
Sakura gasped and was afraid they would hurt Sasuke, which she knew was impossible. But he was cutting through them with little difficulty. He slung one over his back onto the ground, and then punched him hard while the other two were swinging at him.
Ducked the blows and whirled to the side. He slammed one of Idate's friends into the wall and would have pinned him had Idate had not grabbed him from behind.
Idate punched Sasuke hard in the face.
Sakura yelped in terror and tried to go to Sasuke. But a clasp on her arm held her back. She turned to see Karin grabbing her arm, her eyes concentrated on the fight.
"Don't worry, he won't be hurt,"
She looked away from Karin and nodded. Sakura knew he could take care of himself, but she couldn't help but worry about him.
"Oh, god! Idate look out, baby! Oh, duck!" Ami screamed as she tried to help her boy toy.
The force of the blow knocked Idate down where he lay beside his friend with his nose pouring blood. He cursed as he curled up in a ball. His bones and flesh were screaming in pain. As Sasuke walked past him, Idate spat at his feet. "Damn you, you monster,"
Before Sasuke could deliver more pain, Sakura jumped away from Karin's grasp and grabbed onto Sasuke's arm. "Let's go, he's not worth it,"
He sighed in aggravation and nodded. "Let's go to class,"
Ami ran past them to comfort Idate.
As Sakura and Sasuke walked towards class, Sakura turned around. "Karin?" She looked from the group on the floor to the empty area around them.
Karin wasn't there.
"She probably went to class," Sasuke shrugged as he pulled her to the school building. He clenched his free fist in pain as he felt his wound from three days ago screaming in agony. He ignored it the best he could and went inside of the school, with Sakura by his side.
Little did they know that she was hiding behind one of the corners of the buildings. Karin had the picture crumpled in her hand, her fist trembling with agony and anger. Tears streaking down her face, full of betrayal.
"The woman is the death of you," She whispered brokenheartedly.
When she had seen that picture, her love for Sasuke died.
Her soul along with it
"Love can sometimes be magic. But magic can sometimes just be an illusion"
