New update, yeah? Is it too soon? I thought it was just needed to be updated as fast as possible because I felt like the last chapter wasn't good enough for you guys and you were disappointed with the lack of Sakura+Sasuke in it Um…I hope this one does a better job. READ AND ENJOY!

Title: Natsu no kōrinoFuyu Kasai (winter's fire summer's ice)

Standard Disclaimer Applied

[Chapter Seventeen]

It was different they noticed. She was different; everything was different when she came back. There was no smile on her face and her voice was broken like glass, filled with stress and pain. She had been gone for so long, two weeks without even a single word. It was insignificant but mattered just the same.

When she entered, the room was silent almost frightened that the pink hair came to life again. Many had thought she was gone for good, no one actually knowing what really happened to her. There had been other speculations about the place, rumors flying that it was Tami's fault and others saying Sasuke got what he wanted and ruined her. No one knew for sure until she came in, looking blankly ahead of her, almost like she was in the room but somewhere else all together as well.

Delilah looked at her closely; observing her as much as she could; trying to figure out why she looked the way she did.

"Miss Haruno, if you're still sick you shouldn't be at school," she said.

Sakura smiled weakly, a forced one. "I'm perfectly fine, thank you," she squeaked. She shuffled to Delilah's desk and spoke in a low voice to her.

The speculating eyes stuck to her fragile frame. She looked slimmer to Ino…dreadfully slimmer. Ino felt her heart well when Sakura came in. Her heart stopped and she frankly didn't know what to do. Something was wrong with her, something just had to be but she couldn't say anything yet. She had to wait.

Sakura moved from the teacher's desk and as she headed to her seat handed Ino a piece of paper. Her hands were shaking when she opened it up.

I know I've been gone for a while. I just need some…time…alone.

-Sakura

Ino read the paper about fifty times before what Sakura was asking sunk into her. Tears built in her eyes as she felt the pang of hurt. Something was seriously wrong with her best friend and she couldn't change that she really cared. She was so worried. Sakura had been gone for two weeks without a word or anything to anyone and now she still didn't want anyone talking to her? Her hands shook as she wiped her eyes trying to control herself.

Delilah asked her if she was okay and like a pro she lied easily. She looked behind her and Sakura was at her desk, her head in her hands huddled in the corner away from everyone. She wasn't sitting directly behind Naruto anymore, but more over in the corner away from him.

Pain pierced her heart as she looked at her best friend going through a struggle she knew nothing about or could do anything about. This wasn't how it was supposed to be. She turned around in her seat and tried to act like Sakura wasn't there. She tried her hardest to do what Sakura was asking her to.

Sakura sat there with the headache rocking her into madness. She ran her hand over her hair before she placed her forehead in her palm and entangled her fingers within her hair. The migraine hurt so badly. It felt like her head was being heated, bubbling away and was about to burst in heated oblivion. She noticed that when she came, moved her desk there was silence. No one said anything to her but they looked.

She didn't want to come to school this morning but she also did not want to stay in the hospital taking medication, being fed from drips and speaking to a woman for the entire day. She wanted to be out and this was her only way.

Something was wrong with her, she already knew that. She didn't want someone else to tell her that. She didn't want someone else to tell her how bad her paranoia was, how irrational her fears were or how unjustifiable her views were. She didn't want to face any of that because nothing could make her better. Not the medication they placed her on, the drips, the people they made her talk to or the places they placed her to stay. Nothing was going to change that aspect of her because medication could not alter bone deep personality just like how medication couldn't alter past experiences and make them better. Medication would not do anything for her that they would expect it to do. She did not want to take anymore medication. It was too much and too hard. She felt like she was drugging herself all the time.

Her fingers gripped her hair tighter, pulling at them as the pain in her head increased.

Help me

I'm trying to Sakura, I'm trying to but I can't make it go away, her inner said painfully I don't know how to make it stop.

Why is it always me? What have I ever done?

I don't know! God, I've been trying to figure this out and I can't alright I just can't! I don't have any answers! I don't know what to do, I'm sorry!

The pain just started as I came in here, why? As she entered this room the pain started making her eyes flutter. She glanced at Sasuke for the smallest of time.

Sakura…I wish I knew the answer but I don't.

She took deep breaths trying to center herself. If you can't stop the pain then get accustomed to it so you can bear it. That was something she found she was telling herself lately. She sat up and with so much effort dried her tears and made it to lunch.

She took her bag and came out of the class and walked around aimlessly. She had no idea where she was going since her mind was just telling her everywhere. How can you go everywhere when you don't even know where everywhere began?

People bounced into her, pushed around since the halls were full. Students were walking all about with a purpose; with different destinations in mind. The sounds were so loud and the lights so bright around her it made her want to scream. Everything was so loud, bursting her air drums and popping veins in her head. It was hard as she shuffled about only to finally stumbled into the cafeteria. She looked around before she took refuge at the extreme back within the corner.

She sat down and began rocking, back and forth on her bottom, squinting her eyes and holding her ears. She was just like that for a long time, trying to zone it all out until her back pack started to vibrate. It was time for her to take her medication. Story of her life. She pulled them out, the water bottle and took them all effortlessly before placing her head down on the table. Tears rushed down her face from the pain.

It was this or staying. She was trying to tell herself that coming here was the better option. She knew the headache would stop, it always did but in the spear of the moment it felt like it was never going to end.

She kept shifting, over and over again until she settled for resting her elbows on the table and putting her forehead in her palm, fingers tangled in her hair. Her tears dripped onto the table but she paid it no mind as she tried to relax and keep calm as to not let the pain get any worse because she knew it well and could.

~O~

She didn't know that people were watching her namely Ino.

Ino gripped Tenten's hand.

"Where are you going?"

"Obviously I'm going over to her to find out what's wrong," Tenten replied obviously.

"I already told you that she doesn't want any one of us near her. Just give her some space,"

Tenten looked at Sakura then back at Ino. "But look at her, she needs some help."

"Listen to me. When she wants to be alone, she wants just that, to be alone. It breaks my heart to say it but this is something we just can't help her with." Ino said.

She hated how the truth tasted in her mouth. She couldn't do anything to help Sakura, not right now.

Since Sakura was gone they had actually managed to become good friends. It was hard for Ino not to think that Tenten was a whore or slut or something like that but she was a nice person to talk to and very open minded.

Tenten told her that she had somewhere to be and walked out of the cafeteria taking one last glance at Sakura before she disappeared. Ino knew what she had gone to do, when she was at school if she didn't call her son about thirty times a day, she would die of complete worry.

She noticed the second the guys walked into the cafeteria, bringing power and silence about the room. Ino knew they were famous but they were treated much more than that, beyond the boundaries of just fame. They were treated like Gods on earth, like fallen angels as they levitated about the place. They walked with such grace and elegance; their strides manly and deep yet light as a cloud. Their movements would put dancers and ballerinas to shame. They were mighty people with mighty talent and not just in the band.

Her cheeks flushed as she saw Shikamaru. They weren't together but they were friends or maybe just a little bit more than that. Sasuke was with his girl friend Tami that Ino hated with a passion. She wished the slim bitch would just jump off a cliff and die.

If it wasn't for Sakura and the fact that she had fainted that day when she did then Ino would have never met any of them. They wouldn't even be interested in her at all but then again that was not really the point. Shikamaru strode over to her first and dropped his hand around her waist.

"She's still not talking?" he asked darting his eyes over to Sakura.

"She just needs to be alone,"

"Something is wrong," he stated.

"Yes!" Naruto said waltzing into the conversation. "Seriously what's wrong with her? I hate seeing her like that and I don't know what to do. She's been crying all day!"

"I don't know," Ino sighed as they picked a seat, "can we just not talk about it?" she asked.

They sat there for a long time, eating and laughing but Sasuke remained quieter than usual. Once or twice he would make a comment or something but this time he was oddly silent. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one right there in the cafeteria and started smoking. He knew all too well that no one would dare say anything to him about it.

He wasn't saying anything because he was too highly aware of her presence. The fact that she was here was too much for him to just ignore like that. Also she was crying. Why? why would she come here is she wasn't ok?

He watched her, discreetly so no one else would notice. He noticed how she held her head, how she rocked back and forth slightly like the pain was driving her crazy. He noticed how her heart raced, how her blood rushed and how the tears seemed endless. He noticed how she clenched her teeth together because she didn't want to make a sound and how vibrations clogged in her throat since she refused to let the sounds escape. He noticed that her temples seemed swollen…she was having a migraine to kill.

The more she cried the annoyance he had with her grew. He wanted her to stop crying. It was bothering him like a fly constantly ringing in his ears.

"Sasuke, you know you really need to stop smoking," Tami stated.

You would think that Tami would understand not to bother him much after what had happened to them the other day but she was like a love sick puppy and she just kept coming back. She was like so many teenage girls, naïve and unable to decipher emotions and couldn't handle not being wanted. She forgave him the second he said, 'I'm coming over.'

His response was silence just like it had been since school started. His eyes moved to her again as he blew out smoke from his mouth. His subconscious couldn't stop chanting over and over again.

Stop crying, your tears are annoying, stop crying…

His mind kept repeating over and over again without his consent until the chant entered in his subconscious. He wasn't bothering himself with it but he felt like what he had said transcended from his mind into thin air on replay travelling over to her. He strangely felt like she had heard him.

He noticed the moment her head snapped up and wide, fearful emerald eyes looked around in fright. His eyes darted around, trying to see what she was seeing but there was nothing.

Her crying increased as well as her grip on her hair. Concern rose in him and he became more alert. What was happening to her?

~O~

Sakura sat there hearing the voice get louder and louder. She knew nothing was there and it was all in her head but the voice just kept on chanting and would not stop. It was mellow and sounded too familiar but it wasn't real. The pain in her head started to grow as confusion started turning into fear. Why should she be set in such torment the moment she came here? It wasn't fair.

Stop crying!

"Stop it," she begged agonizingly.

Stop crying!

"Stop it!" she shrieked feeling her mind snap again when she jumped up, hitting her bag over and fleeing from the cafeteria in hysteria. "Stop!" she screamed bursting through the door, down the halls and out in the open.

"Sakura!" his voice roared, the earth trembling from the power. His body moved instantly, the cigarette falling from his hand as he stormed out of the cafeteria after her.

Everyone froze with eyes wide. People stopped mid bite, forks in hand, juices at lips, food almost entering mouths, hand hovering over food and mid laughter. No one moved or even dared to. Tami gapped like a fish out of water just like everyone else.

No one knew what had just happened or what to expect. The silence stretched on as people started eyeing each other, looking for some sort of answer to their question; "what had just happened?"

Shikamaru was the first to move. He ran his hand over his face. "Ah hell," he sighed, "this is troublesome. I thought he knew about this part of the ordeal."

Ino's eyes were glued to the exit of the cafeteria. The same one Sakura had just ran through in distress with Sasuke tracing right after her.

Naruto stood and came out of the seat.

"Wait," Neji said to Naruto halting his movements, "he doesn't want us there." he said.

The table became ominously silent with the awkward feeling in the air as the cafeteria students slowly eased back into talking and eating. Ino wondered now, greatly, what was happening outside.

Outside…

She dropped to her knees around the back of the school, holding her head and bawling. There was something racking her, clawing at the inside of her mind, begging for a way out. Something was killing her, intoxicating her mind, electrocuting her brain and it just hurt so much.

She couldn't understand why it had started so soon, she thought it had stopped. And the voices! The voices were everywhere, attacking her from all angles, chanting in her head and driving her crazy. She was hearing things that weren't there, so loud and demanding, evil and slithering in her mind. Why was this happening the moment she stepped in class?

Everything was so loud, the lights were so bright, the smell around her was so strong it was all becoming too much. It was too much for her. She felt something wrong, something different in the pain she was suddenly feeling; something new, something alien about how it was happening, something that she wasn't used to. This was different. The pain was different, the intensity was different, the way she felt and how her body was reacting. The pain, everything was so overpowering she didn't hear Sasuke's approach.

Sasuke took a breath before he walked over to her and knelt down in front of her. She was rocking as something he was starting to figure out slowly drove her crazy. He moved her hands away from her face but her head kept shaking, the tears kept coming as her eyes got darker and darker, becoming blood shut.

This was his fault he realized. He had caused this to happen to her without realizing it until it was too late; until it had reached this apex. He looked at her, watching her…trying to figure out what was happening. She was wheezing and gasping, the pain, invading her entire body.

"Make it stop." she begged, her hands flying back to her head, pulling her hairs out of her scalp as the impossible happened to her. The pain grew stronger, intensifying. "Please!" she cried her voice strained and desperate.

He took both her hands, moved it from her face and held it in place with one hand. Her eyes glanced up at him, so red down to her tears had red tints in them. She was looking at him, but he knew that she wasn't seeing him, she was in a haze. The more her tears fell, the deeper the red became until it was the colour of his blood. It was red, deep far too dark to be classified as human blood with black swirling spots embossed in it. His blood was a red so dark, so thick and sleek it was something no other human had ever seen, with curse mark spots of darkness whirling in it. She was shaking, looking at him yet seeing completely through him as the liquid ran down her face.

"What the-"

He'd never seen anything like it in all his years. He'd never seen a human bleed demonic blood. He looked around, suddenly conscious about the surroundings and if any eyes were watching. He needed to stop this, whatever the hell this was to begin with. He could only –at that time- think of one logical way to end this and that was just by putting her to sleep. He was not witch or anything but he knew a few tricks.

He pressed his palm against her forehead and spoke under his breath, his voice only coming out as a gust of wind. "Lumina de mintea omului aduce mai departe in stare de inconstienta de putere coplesitoare oasele,"

Her body went limp as her eyes closed instantly. He picked her up and looked at her face. He watched the blood vanish into thin air, evaporating from her skin until it didn't seem like anything was there to begin with. He looked puzzled. What in the world had just happened? What had he even done to cause this in the first place?

He stood there waiting, knowing his friends would hear his call. They came indeed, walking slowly and cautiously over to him. Naruto however wasn't one to be as careful as the rest of them and practically ran over to him.

"What the hell happened dude?" he asked loudly.

"You're going to need to take her home," Shikamaru said with a sigh, "I thought you were going to stay away from her."

"I was," Sasuke gritted or at least he'd thought about it a little. But it wasn't that easy to do, didn't they get that?

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed. "Not in your head you didn't because if you were that wouldn't have happened,"

"What happened?"

"There was an overwhelming mental link formed between the both of you the moment you saw her this morning. It's the first it's happened and her body is weak and she's already suffering from some sort of mental trauma which made it impossible for her to handle it. It happens, it's part of what enables you both to understand each other so well. I just never thought to tell you about it because I figured you'd have pieced that together." He stated. "Take her home,"

Sasuke sighed and looked again at her limp body in his arms. "I'll take her to infirmary," he said finally.

"What are you going to do Teme?" Naruto demanded. "I actually like her and I don't think now is the time to think about fucking her!"

"Dobe I wasn't even…" he stopped himself mid rage and glared at his idiotic best friend. "Nara you have some explaining to do," Sasuke clipped and began moving from around the back of the school to the door leading back inside.

"I don't trust you to take her to the nurse," Naruto said skeptically.

"He likes her," Shikamaru stated.

Naruto looked at him closely. "You mean-?"

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah that's what I mean, don't worry he won't do anything or at least I don't think he's that stupid. I'll handle everything here then later I'll come over your place and talk about this." He said.

Sasuke was not looking forward to any of this. "Alright," he said and began walking away before he stopped, turned and looked at Naruto. "Naruto," he said looking at his best friend who now had on his serious face, "you know what I want you to do?"

"I smelt them before I came out here. The Pentitantum needs to learn to trust us." he informed him.

Sasuke nodded. "Get rid of them," he ordered.

He nodded. "Don't worry about it, I'll deal with it." he promised.

He nodded before he pushed the door open with his foot and went into the school.

There you guys have it. So I have this summer job that's from like 10am-8pm which drains the life out of me and I work five days a week but I'm going to try my best to keep the chapters coming. I want to try to update as much as possible in this summer and we only have one month left so I have to kick it up a notch. I'm going to try! THANK YOU ALL THE REVIEWERS AND FAVOURITE-ERS, AND FOLLOWERS AND JUST EVERYONE WHO HAS SUPPORTED ME THIS FAR! ANY suggestions you have you are free to tell me about them and if you have anything to say you can always PM me! ^_^

Soak up the beautiful sun with love,

D.V