R/N: Finally! The update! Muahahah... cough... okay here it is after nearly a month or so, enjoy!
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"Sasuke…(poke)…Hey! Sasuke!...(poke, poke)...Get up!"
Akemi was repeatedly prodding the Uchiha, who had his head buried in a couch pillow and was trying not to flinch away from her sharp nails. Maybe if I don't move she'll give up and leave. But luck, it seemed, was not on his side lately. Her voice continued to nag him, her finger continued to jab at him.
Meanwhile, she was thinking how un-Sasuke-like this "welcome" was. True, he had told her that if she insisted on "checking up on him," she could let herself in; it was pointless for him to open an unlocked door, especially for someone he had no desire to see. Previously she had been met with drunken resentment, indifference, but never…laziness? Any minute now he had to snap. She was sure she was annoying the hell out of him.
Still, all she got for an answer was unintelligible mumbling. An arm swung out at her halfheartedly to push her away. She sighed, ceasing her torment.
"You'll make yourself sick staying in here all day."
Finally a retort she could understand, "It's not the house that makes me sick."
Akemi pointedly ignored his indirect insult. "You're right. It's the sake. Now get up."
More grumbling came from the plushy barrier of the pillow.
"Don't make me do this…" With that, Akemi grabbed Sasuke's shirt, rolling him off the couch and onto the floor. Before he knew what had hit him, he had landed with a loud THUMP on his back, banging his head on the hard wooden floorboards.
A very pissed Uchiha glared up at the kunoichi. And she was enjoying her view looking down at him. His expression didn't seem so menacing when one of his eyes was almost as blackened as Gaara's and he had a large white patch covering part of his forehead. No wonder he'd been hiding his face in the pillow. She snickered.
"Don't tell me you were stupid enough to insult Sakura."
Sasuke slowly got to his feet, ignoring the hand she held out to him. He winced as blood rushed to his head and made the throbbing worse. He now had a large bump to add to his collection of head wounds. "No. But next time I see her I'm going to thank her for leaving me like this."
Akemi could only imagine what kind of "thank you" he had in mind. So Sakura chose not to take pity on him, huh? "No doubt you deserved it," she muttered. Continuing more loudly, "But I have a deal for you."
He waited.
"I'll fix your face…if you get out of this depressing house." She gestured towards the world outside his dirty window.
"Hn. Let me guess, you'll have to be my chaperone?"
"Oh, come on. You used to like taking walks."
"I don't remember liking anything," he responded arrogantly.
Akemi was growing impatient, he could tell. She had assumed her stubborn posture, hands on her hips, one eyebrow arched. "Do we have a deal, or not?"
Sasuke considered for a minute. Why did he always feel like he was forced to give in to her? It was definitely not because he felt intimidated by her. Some of the world's most powerful shinobi had fallen to him; Akemi was no threat. But pushing her buttons certainly had its limits.
"Fine," he replied, as if it didn't bother him that he'd be spending an hour or two with someone he didn't want to be with, in a village he didn't want to be in.
A moment later he was seated on the couch, submitting himself to her ministrations. She tipped his face towards the light, her fingers brushing gently against his cheek, and studied him for longer than he found comfortable, or necessary. He suppressed the urge to pull away. Finally her hand moved to cover his eye, cool, soothing chakra flowing into the bruised skin. The dark blue-black changed to a lighter purple, fading until there was no trace of it. Sasuke was left blinking as she moved on to his forehead. The gauze patch came off, revealing a nasty 3-inch-long cut possibly deep enough for stitches. Akemi shook her head. "Did Sakura take a look at this?"
"Why would she? I didn't give her any good reason to help me."
Tough love. But at least it looks like she stopped the bleeding. The cooling sensation returned, along with an uncomfortable stinging as the wound healed itself. She sat back, admiring her handiwork. "Good enough."
He scowled. If she had made him look even worse than before…
"…But you still smell like the bar, Sasuke."
"Is that really what bothers you, or is it the fact that I went out drinking?"
Her mouth pressed into a straight line. "Both. And maybe next time you should think twice about getting drunk and picking a fight with Naruto."
She saw his eyes flash. He was beginning to see that Akemi's methods of "curing" someone swung drastically between compassion and reproach. Instead of confronting her about how she knew, he said, "I'm going to get cleaned up."
Akemi watched him saunter away and heard the bathroom door close. She was slightly confused about the lack of confrontation. Just as well, she thought. She had other things to take care of.
Half an hour later, just when she was starting to worry that Sasuke had drowned himself in the bathtub…
"What the hell is that?"
Akemi looked up from the bright yellow piece of paper she was securing to his fridge. "This? Just something I thought might help you." She ripped another length of clear packaging tape off the roll. Sasuke thought if she put any more tape over it, she'd end up laminating his entire refrigerator.
He arched an eyebrow suspiciously and went over to read the sign, which, by its color alone, shouted Caution: Danger Ahead!
For a moment he was dumbfounded…and not in a good way. What he was staring at was, in his opinion, the worst example of psychologically tormenting "poetry" that could ever be used to brainwash a patient. The most horrifying thing was that he'd be blinded by it every time he reached into the fridge, unless he wanted to stop eating.
"C'mon, read it."
"I am reading it. And this'll be the last time I read it." He started to stalk off, but she grabbed his arm.
"I mean out loud," she urged, never releasing her crushing grip.
He cringed. "'I am not to blame for who I was'…" he grumbled. "'I feel better when I face my inner pain.' You've got to be kidding me."
She only looked at him disapprovingly. He gritted his teeth, continuing in a monotone, "'I am responsible for changing myself. I want to change.' I want to get out of here. Can we go now?"
"You're not done with the last two lines."
"Those lines don't apply to me. None of this applies to me, and shitty poetry is not going to help me. It wasn't part of our "deal" either."
Above his protests, Akemi read on, "'I can change, I will change, I will never, never, never, never (Sasuke lost count of the "nevers" after four) give up!'" The phrase practically begged to be shouted out loud. Thank Kami Akemi restrained herself. "'I am a good person and I will prevail.'"
He wrenched his arm away and headed for the door.
"It wouldn't hurt to memorize it." She appeared beside him, slipping her sandals on.
"I make it a point to not memorize useless information."
Akemi told herself not to argue, that she was lucky if he did anything she said, and followed him outside.
Sasuke blinked in the sunlight that burned his eyes as soon as he stepped out. Neither spoke to each other. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his pants, trying to act like he wasn't being escorted by his psychiatrist like some patient from a mental facility. She was watching him out of the corner of her eye, secretly feeling proud that she'd accomplished even this much.
She surprised him when she took the route that led to the river, and not through town. So she didn't think he was ready to be around people yet, after all. Maybe it wasn't surprising. Distrust was nothing new to Sasuke.
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The late afternoon sun glittered on the water, sparking bright, blinding flashes of light over the ripples. Akemi and Sasuke sat on the bordering rocks. She was quiet, but her mind never was; she was trying to find a way to tell him what no one had since he'd woken up from his coma. It wasn't going to be easy.
"There's something you should know, Sasuke…" The wording that ultimately meant bad news would follow turned his attention back to her. With his dark gaze focused on her, she rushed on, "They've been saying that because you killed Itachi, Tsunade decided to give you a second chance. In a way, you've redeemed yourself…"
"That wasn't my intention," he began, but she shot him a look.
"No. And it's not the reason you're still here, either. If you were really regarded as such a hero, you wouldn't be under house arrest."
Her brutal statement struck Sasuke. She had a point. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Then why am I under house arrest?"
She took a breath. Betraying Tsunade's confidence would have its consequences. But she hated having to be sneaky about gathering information. "Orochimaru's disappeared. You're the only one who knows where he could be."
At the mention of the Sannin's name, a shadow passed over Sasuke's expression. "If you really wanted information out of me, couldn't you send me to Ibiki Morino?"
"You think it would be easy for Tsunade – for anyone – to do that to you? No one's giving up on you yet, Sasuke."
"Maybe you should."
Akemi couldn't tell if that statement was meant to sound like self-pity or a demand to leave him alone, but either way he wasn't cooperating. Half of her had expected to get an easy answer as to the disappearance of the immortal, snake-charming, S-class criminal; the other half had sensibly known not to expect so much. Now, as she watched Sasuke arrogantly stalk off into the shade of the trees, she hated him. She hated his blatant refusal to tell her anything. More than that, she hated the chasm between them, and the fact that she couldn't find a bridge to get across it.
"Do you have to be so stubborn?" she demanded, marching after him. He didn't stop walking. "Why do you shut everyone out, push everyone away?"
At this his gaze locked on to her, practically burning through her. He instantly had her backed up against a tree, his face inches away from hers. "I won't tell you this again. Stay out of my life."
Akemi had been intimidated by Sasuke before, but what she feared more than his tone was his expression. In his eyes she saw so much power, and beneath that, so much pain. Sasuke was always so adept at stashing away any and all emotions. Except for now, when they struggled to break free. Years of pent-up anger, frustration, and agony were almost tangible. He was finally losing control of them all…and worse, he didn't know how to stop them.
She was so stunned that she didn't bother to chase after him as he disappeared into the darkening forest. Once again he'd turned his back on her. And this time she was afraid it might be for good.
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A/N: Ok, so this is where you're gonna hate me. I've decided to make my sister delete this story so I can edit it. I feel like it's just going nowhere, and that's a pretty crappy feeling. So…I'm giving it a week so that those who care get this memo. Then "Psycho" will be whisked away to the place that magically makes all stories better! (Ya, right, I wish.) If I finish it and actually like it, I'll probably update it. Thanks to all who read, reviewed, or favorited this! And thanks to my sis for letting me use her fanfic account in the first place! In the meantime, entertain yourself with the other really good stories around here…Sayonara!
R/N: Well, I happen to like having "Psycho" up online... so I won't be deleting it afterall! But (sadly) don't expect updates any time soon. It came as a shocker to me too... reviews are still welcome however. XD