Catch Me
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or any songs/movies featured in Catch Me.
Chapter 12
It was a dream.
It was a dream, Sasuke reasoned. But why did it seem so real?
Itachi was grinning in a way that only suggested evil thoughts were festering in his mind.
"Foolish little brother. What are you going to do now?"
Sasuke was eight again. He was having the dream. He was eight, his parents were dead, and it reeked of blood. Itachi was standing over him again, bloody kunai and all.
But this time, the dream was different.
Because Sakura was there.
And she was dead.
SasuSaku
"No…No…Sakura…"
Sakura moved quickly across the room and sat herself on his bed. He was groaning, sweating, dreaming. She was afraid to reach out and touch him; she was afraid of what he might do.
"SAKURA!"
Sasuke bolted upright. His eyes flew open; the Sharingan was burning in them. She could tell he was still in his own nightmare. Because he was looking right through her.
"Sasuke-kun…"
This time she did reach out and put a hand on his arm. Then she caught sight of the kunai he was gripping in his right hand. He was moving it, unconsciously she hoped.
But all bets were off when it stopped right above his heart.
SasuSaku
"SASUKE!"
There was a crash, and both Alexis and Kiba jumped. The boy swore.
"What was that?"
The blonde shrugged. "I hope they're okay…"
They could only imagine what was going on behind that closed door.
SasuSaku
"No…no, please no."
Sakura had tackled Sasuke, wrenching his hand away from his chest. But his grip was strong. All she could do was put all her weight on to his arm and hold it there.
She was crying. It had been bad, seeing him go through the same thing year after year. But now it was worse.
The boy groaned again, yelling out in his sleep. "It's your fault! You killed them! You killed her!"
It took all her effort to keep him from stabbing himself.
"Sasuke-kun…You're dreaming. It's a dream." Her voice was as calm as she could make it, which wasn't very calm.
Sasuke whimpered, and the girl gasped as she felt tears dripping into her hair. His grip loosened on the kunai, and she wasted no time in grabbing it and throwing the weapon across the room.
The Sharingan had faded, and his eyes were closed again. He tossed and turned as Sakura released him. She moved closer, taking his hand in hers and squeezing for all it was worth.
"Sasuke-kun, wake up. Please…"
He cried out, indescribable pain etched in his features. Sakura sucked in a breath; her tears were killing her air supply. She wasn't sure how long she could last.
"Sasuke…please, come on, wake up."
She grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard. She pinned his arms to his sides and buried her tear-streaked face into his chest.
"Wake up Sasuke. Please. I need you here. Sasuke-kun…wake up!"
And finally he did, jerking up with that "probably the worst point of the nightmare where you wake up" gasp. Sakura released him, panting for a reason she didn't really know.
"Sasuke?"
His head whipped around to face her. His breathing was laboured and beads of sweat ran down his neck. Darks eyes darted around, to see if this was really real.
"Saki…" He reached out, and touched her cheek. She blushed, cursing herself. Sakura smiled wanly at him.
"Welcome back, Sasuke-kun."
His eyelids were starting to flutter shut. She grabbed his arm.
"Just wait a sec, okay?"
Standing, she raided his dresser, coming out with a pair of Snoopy boxers and a white t-shirt. Three minutes later, she was in and out of the bathroom.
Sasuke, even in his sleep-deprived state, had to notice how cute she looked in his clothes. He grinned goofily.
"You look cute."
Sakura blushed again, half-glaring at him. Half of her mind wished it to be the "crazy" Sasuke talking, and the other half, her inner-self, didn't. "Go back to sleep, Sasuke-kun."
Her voice was gentle, and he complied. The girl arranged herself next to him and closed her eyes.
This was how it always ended, this one night of the year. The one night of the year that instilled in them that they would always be part of each other.
To say Sasuke hated Kiba would be an understatement.
He loathed him, detested him with every fibre of his being. He was, for lack of more polite terms, a conceited, self absorbed, pain-in-the-neck jackass.
The worst part of it was, Kiba was Sakura's boyfriend.
And he wasn't.
SasuSaku
Sakura wasn't sure about Kiba anymore. It seemed he wanted to move a lot faster than she did, which was starting to unnerve her.
It was getting to the point where she had to literally push him off her.
And she didn't like it.
0o0o0o0o0o
"Kiba…stop…Kiba!"
Sakura jerked away from her boyfriend. Okay, trying to get her shirt open was definitely not a good thing. The boy sat up, and the lust in his eyes made her heart pound, and not in a good way.
"Can we just…slow down, please?"
He nodded, but Sakura doubted he'd been listening. He moved for her again. She let him, all the while resisting the urge to throw up in her mouth. Now he was going for the button of her jeans.
"Get off!"
This time she was on her feet, shaking. He finally seemed to focus on her. "Sakura…wait. I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "I'm going. Just…leave me alone for a couple of days. Please."
And she was out the door, high-tailing it down the street.
0o0o0o0o0o
"Sakura?"
The girl sneezed, trying half-heartedly to cover her mouth. Rain pummelled the roof without cease. Sasuke looked on worriedly.
"You okay?"
She nodded. "I just got caught in the downpour."
But the tear streaks dried on her cheeks made him think otherwise. He watched as she moved past him, heading for the stairs. His concern growing, the boy placed a hand on her shoulder. At the contact, Sakura flinched openly. Sasuke immediately withdrew his palm.
"Saki…"
She shook her head. "It's nothing…See you later."
His brow furrowed as she ascended the stairs and slipped inside her room. Something was up with her, and he could bet his life that Kiba was in the middle of it.
Ding Dong!
It was late when Sasuke opened the door to a rumpled Kiba. The Uchiha resisted the urge to grab him by the collar and demand why Sakura was acting so weird.
"What do you want?"
The boy knew he wouldn't get anywhere by trying to deceive the person Sakura trusted most.
"Is Sakura home? I need to talk to her."
Sasuke let him enter, keeping a wary gaze on Sakura's boyfriend. "Why? Does it have anything to do with the fact that she pretty much jumped out of her skin when I touched her?"
Kiba looked at the floor. "Maybe."
Dark eyes flashed as Sasuke took a step closer. "What did you do to her?"
His gaze was now defiant. "Why should I explain this to you? It's none of your business."
Sasuke was so close now that Kiba was backed against the wall.
"If you hurt Sakura, it's my business. What did you do to her?"
The dog-like boy sneered. "What would you do if I said I tried to get into her pants, but she wouldn't have it?"
Three seconds later, Kiba was shoved and pinned to the wall. Sasuke was gripping his collar with one hand, and balling a fist with the other.
"Come within ten feet of her ever again, and I will personally bash your disgusting little face in."
The Sharingan was alive and kicking. Kiba looked momentarily frightened, but got over it.
"Oh yeah? You think I'm blind? You think your friends don't know that you'd choose her over them in a heartbeat?"
Sasuke rammed his fist into the boy's gut. He swore and wheezed, but continued.
"You don't…You don't think we see it? We all see it. She's your weak spot. She's what makes you lose control; she's the one you're always thinking about. The person who has her has ultimate control over the great Sasuke Uchiha. God, what a day it'll be to see you fall."
Another one into the gut. Kiba really had a death wish.
"And you know what the funny thing is? Sakura's so damn clueless. I feel so honoured…that I'll be the one to deflower your precious little cherry blossom."
That was it. Kiba hit the floor and Sasuke was on him in an instant. Punches and curses were flying out of him, at such a rate that one couldn't get them all. But it wasn't enough. Not to Sasuke.
Nothing would be enough for this son of a bitch who had insulted the one person that Sasuke held most dear.
The one person that meant everything to him.
"ENOUGH!"
Both boys' heads flew up, almost colliding. Sakura was standing at the foot of the stairs, her eyes aflame.
"Sasuke get off him."
Her voice was eerily calm. Too calm. Sasuke did as ordered, shooting Kiba the most murderous glare he could come up with. The boy sneered at him once again, before turning to the girl, who was looking at him with the coldest, hardest eyes that Sasuke had ever seen her use.
"Don't even try to say anything, Kiba. We're done."
His mouth dropped open indignantly. "Wait a sec-"
She cut him off. "You think you could just come into my house, says things like that to Sasuke, try to get me to sleep with you, and expect me to stay with you? God, what kind of desperate girl do you think I am?"
Kiba glared. "Fine. If that's the way you want it, fine. Just don't come crying to me when Uchiha screws you over."
SMACK!
An unprintable curse flew out of Kiba's mouth as a five-fingered, angry red mark spread across his face. Sakura flexed her stinging right hand as she opened the front door with her left.
"You can leave now."
"Sasuke…"
He was having a hard time looking her in the eye. He'd broken a promise. He'd promised that he wouldn't interfere with Sakura's relationship. But he did.
And he didn't regret it.
"I'm going to Ino's. Don't follow me. I just need time."
She was mad. She was so angry that she didn't even sound like it. Her voice was so flat it scared him. But that was the price of a broken promise.
She left, running all the way to the Yanamaka's without stopping. Tears had welled up in her eyes, to her great confusion.
Why? Why had he betrayed her trust like that?
Maybe what Kiba said had a bit of merit her inner-self thought. Sakura shook her head. It couldn't be. Sasuke didn't…he just didn't.
At least, that's what she tried to convince herself.
SasuSaku
Sasuke lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. Things were going to suck monumentously for the next little while. He had no idea how much time Sakura needed or wanted. He'd just have to wait it out.
But that didn't mean he couldn't try anything.
"Neji? Listen, can we change our final performance song on Friday?"
Sasuke hoped that Sakura would forgive him by the time Talent Night rolled around. It'd be hard to perform knowing his inspiration was pissed at him. But he needed a plan. Just in case.
He surfed the Internet for hours, doing absolutely nothing. He came across one of those pop-ups:
Does it hurt when the person you love leaves?
Damn right it does.
It hurt more than anything Sasuke could have ever imagined.
Author's Note: How's that for a Kiba bashing? Sorry, once again, about the length, but it seemed like a good place to end. This story is probably only going to be only a couple more chapters long, three at the most. And they probably won't be super-long either. So, fellow SasuSaku lovers, prepare for the end of Catch Me.
Please review! I won't update if you don't review. 'Cuz I'm mean like that.
Annie
P.S Happy belated birthday Sakura!
