This chapter is dedicated to naruhinalover, my 100th reviewer. This one should rock you off your seat:) Enjoy!
It had been a week since the fateful Districts game. Sakura sat on the couch at her home, her injured leg propped up on a cushion and in a cast. Tear stains marked raw, salty ridges in her cheeks, but she didn't care. Sakura just didn't care anymore at all. Apathy was eating away at her soul, along with sadness and pain.
Beside her lay several letters and magazines, and the TV blared from across the room. Sakura's eyes were fixed unfocusedly on it, not really taking in the images. Her mind had retreated away inside, unwilling to take any more pain.
On the ottoman, beside her cast, lay the letter from Firestone High. Sakura had read it through several times already. Reluctant to refund her tuition so late in the year, Firestone had actually offered to allow Sakura to stay on as a girl: the only one on campus. At first, Sakura had been somewhat elated: perhaps her old friends wouldn't shun her, after all. But after several days and no phone calls or visits, Sakura had come to a dreaded conclusion: the Firestone basketball team was shunning her. She didn't blame them, it just meant more pain at losing her friends.
On her lap and scattered around the couch were various newspaper articles and magazine clippings, each and every one blaring out the strange story of the girl who had managed to trick her way onto an all-boys school team. And that wasn't all: this girl was the daughter of the famous Fire Ninja point guard, Saki Haruno. Sakura had been called a number of things by the media, most of which were quite unpleasant. They all denounced her as a slut for trying to enroll in an all-boys school, sleep in the same room as another boy, and trying to play basketball on the boy's team. Some of the tabloids had even gone on to say that Sakura and her roommate must have had an "understanding" between them in order to pull off this plan. Sakura knew no such thing had happened, and Sasuke would never have demanded so high a price to keep her secret. But she made no statement, no attempt to defend herself.
Sakura, for once, was going down without a fight. The whole affair was over, and Sakura was finished, too.
Get-well cards from Ino, Tenten, and Hinata lay on her lap, but Sakura did not feel like reading them. She would get to talk to her friends again soon enough: she was going back to Leaf High next year.
That'll be a loss for Firestone, Inner Sakura said in a burst of cynicism. Their team will certainly miss me, now that I'll be playing on Leaf High's GIRLS team…if they even let me on after what I did.
Suddenly, the phone rang. Sakura snapped out of her daze, reached over, and hooked the phone out of its cradle.
"Hello?"
A friendly, unfamiliar voice came out of the receiver.
"Is this the Haruno residence?"
"Yes, ma'am, you're speaking to the infamous Sakura Haruno," Sakura said wearily. The woman laughed.
"My dear, you sound as if you've been worn down! Oh, pardon me, I forgot to introduce myself. Mikoto Uchiha, dear."
"Oh, hello, Mrs. Uchiha," Sakura stuttered, suddenly turning red. She felt like burning all the magazine articles she'd collected, even though Mikoto probably had read them all. Imagine, the mother of her roommate calling her! She prepared for Mikoto to explode, but it never came.
"Please, just call me Mikoto," she said kindly. "Sasuke-kun told me your side of the story, and I think the tabloids are being rather unfair about it. Look," she said swiftly as Sakura was about to butt in, "Sasuke says you didn't have anything to do with each other, and I believe him. That's not what I'm calling about."
Sakura felt a wave of relief wash over her. She fell back into the couch cushions.
"Oh…"
"I was calling to see if you would like to come with me to the State Finals," Mikoto continued.
"I'm sorry?" Sakura was confused. Mikoto laughed.
"The State Finals! Firestone made it to States, thanks to you, Sakura, dear. I had an extra ticket, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."
Sakura gazed around the things piled about her again. Almost all of the articles she had cut out had a picture of Sasuke in them. She had cut out the article, no matter what it said, if it had Sasuke's picture. Afraid she had lost him forever, Sakura had been avidly collecting his picture so she would never forget him.
Her eyes found the Ziploc bag with her folded, clean Firestone team uniform in it. She did have to return that, and she certainly wasn't going back to Firestone any time soon… She might as well go: for the glimpse of Sasuke it would provide, and the opportunity to return her uniform. She nodded, then remembered Mikoto couldn't see her over the phone.
"Um, yeah, sure, that'd be great," Sakura said, with more enthusiasm than she felt.
"Great!" Mikoto said. "I'll pick you up at 3:00 this Friday."
Sakura hung up feeling more ashamed of herself than ever. What kind of excuse to go to a game was that, going to see Sasuke's face one last time? And forget about talking to him – she would only confirm the rumors the tabloids were spreading. But a promise was a promise. Sakura picked up the remote and turned off the TV. Standing up, she hobbled up the stairs and to her room. It was time to get her life back in order.
State Finals
"Didn't we get good seats?" Mikoto chirped cheerfully as she and Sakura filed into their seats. Sakura managed a smile.
"Yeah, we're right on the court."
Indeed, they were. Only five rows below them stood the Firestone team bench. Sakura's heart ached as her eyes traveled over the currently empty seats.
A roar went up as the Firestone team came jogging out, wearing their blue and gold. Sakura felt strangely distant as she scanned the fourteen players, watching for a glimpse of raven-black hair.
Instead of heading out on court to warm up like the rest of his team, Sasuke stopped at the bench to run some things over on a clipboard. Itachi had not yet emerged from the tunnel.
"SASUKE-KUN!" Mikoto yelled, waving vigorously. Sasuke looked up briefly, as if he thought he'd heard someone call his name. His dark eyes traveled over the crowd until they reached his gesturing mother. His face brightened slightly, but he made no response. Mikoto pointed down at where Sakura was sitting.
Sakura slid lower in her chair, trying to hide. But it was too late: Sasuke had caught a glimpse of pink. He frowned quizzically at her, then motioned at the bench. Sakura lifted an eyebrow, confused. Sasuke pointed at her and once again beckoned for her to come down.
"What's he want?" Sakura asked faintly. Mikoto looked delighted.
"I think…I think he wants you to put on your uniform and join the team on the bench!"
"NO!" Sakura shook her head, trying to signal to Sasuke that she wasn't going to do it. But Sasuke was only moving over to the gate at the end of the walkway down the bleachers that opened onto the court. He was unlocking it…
"Go on!" Mikoto hissed, giving Sakura a nudge. Sasuke looked up for Sakura again, and Sakura saw the determination in his eyes. Sasuke mouthed something at her. Sakura read his lips perfectly.
'You're a member of this team.'
Sakura timidly stood up. Mikoto grabbed the Ziploc-ed uniform and grabbed her elbow, guiding her out. Sasuke stood aside to allow his mother to jump down, then Sakura. He ignored the noise from the crowd, instead, taking Sakura's arm and pointing.
"Just go down the tunnel, there's a girls' room on the right. You can't miss it," he said loudly in her ear. It was the only way he could make himself heard. Sakura felt the goosebumps start to spread, starting somewhere at where his hand gripped her arm. She nodded.
"Come on!" Mikoto said, taking her hand, "we'll have you changed in a jiffy. We'll be back, Sasuke-kun!" she said cheerily, setting off for the tunnel. Sakura turned to follow her, but almost bumped into someone who had stolen up behind her under cover of the crowd's noise. She found herself staring up at her cold-eyed coach.
"Hi, Coach," she managed to make herself say, before Mikoto called over her shoulder.
"You coming, Sakura-chan?"
"Yeah," Sakura said, setting off after Itachi and Sasuke's mother. She still felt Itachi's gaze following her as she set off down the tunnel, following Mikoto. What it was he was looking at, she wasn't sure.
At the end of the first quarter, Itachi was looking restless. He called his team over as the referee blew the whistle.
"Good job, guys, you're doing great," he said emotionlessly. "Sasuke, take charge of the team. I'll be back in a short while."
Sasuke watched him disappear down the tunnel, wondering vaguely where he going. Then Neji coughed, and he turned back to the team.
"OK, guys, Iwakagure's running a tight triangle-and-two. They obviously are trying to shut me down. So here's the plan: Neji, you take it inside…"
The second quarter flew by so quickly that it felt like only a few seconds to Sasuke. The scoreboard glared red:
Konoha – 37
Iwakagure – 33
It was a tight game. Neji was panting hard, he had given his all in the second quarter. Sasuke motioned for him to sit and rest and looked around. Itachi was supposed to be out here for the half-time pep talk, but he still hadn't reappeared. Sasuke frowned. He'd better go find the coach, or he might face some awkward questioning from the refs.
"Hey, Neji, watch the team, OK? I'm gonna go find out what's happened to Coach."
Neji nodded and wrapped his towel around his neck.
"Just get back here in time, you've got several minutes."
Sasuke trotted off the court and down the tunnel. Slowly, the sounds of cheering and the brilliant lights died away as he walked down the echoing, dim corridor. He turned the corner, heading for where the locker rooms were.
"Itachi?"
There was a small scuffling sound, a click, and silence. Sasuke froze. Something wasn't right here…
He turned right and nearly gasped. Sasuke's eyes leapt straight to the gun!
"Get out of the way," Itachi murmured. At first, Sasuke thought Itachi was speaking to him, but then he realized that there were two other people in the corner of the hall. Sakura was standing in front of a cowering Mikoto, her arms outstretched and her face determined.
"No!" she said. Itachi's eyes gleamed red.
"It's your own death."
Sasuke heard the stock click into place. He had one chance, and one chance only.
"ITACHI!"
Itachi stopped, frozen by the sound of his name. Sasuke had no time to attack, no time to plan. He simply did what instinct told him to do: he darted in front of Sakura and his mother, placing himself between them and the gun. Itachi's eyes narrowed.
"So, outoutou, you decided to finally stand up for yourself?"
"I won't let you hurt them," Sasuke said defiantly. Sakura heard the note of fear in his voice. Things were a lot scarier when you were staring down the barrel of a gun. She crouched down, easing the weight on her injured leg. Sasuke was right in front of her, his arms outspread and back, slightly encircling her. Itachi laughed.
"How can you stop me? You have no weapon, no power. One shot is all it takes," he said warningly, tipping the barrel back. Sasuke held his ground.
"I was a fool, Itachi. I stood aside and let you have your way. But this time, I won't let you murder again, not when there are innocent lives at stake."
Itachi cocked the weapon. "I don't want to kill you, little brother. I don't need YOU to die, nor the pink-haired chick. You can both step out of the way, and I'll let you live."
"I'm not going anywhere!" Sakura retorted. Itachi pointed the gun at her.
"Silence!"
"Don't you DARE point that thing at Sakura!" Sasuke roared. Itachi returned his aim back to him.
"I'll say it one more time, brother: get out of my way."
Sasuke clenched his teeth. "No."
BAM!
Sakura screamed. Sasuke gaped at the bloody hole now punched through his shoulder. Behind them both, Mikoto cowered even lower.
"That was a warning shot," Itachi said softly, as Sasuke bent double, coughing up blood and clutching his shoulder. "The next one goes through your heart."
As Sasuke looked up, blood slowly blossoming across the right shoulder of his jersey, Itachi leveled the gun straight at the left side of Sasuke's chest. Sasuke grinned weakly through the trickle of blood that was streaming from the corner of his mouth.
"Couldn't do it, nii-san? Couldn't bring yourself to kill me, eh?"
"Shut up." Itachi's eyes remained fixed on the blackish red liquid now sliding from between Sasuke's fingers.
"Whatever happened to your determination?" Sasuke whispered, hearing his voice echo off the silent, dim walls. "Your resolve to kill whatever got in your way? I'm not the one who's lost the battle, Itachi. Your resolve has been waning ever since you first committed murder."
"What on earth?!" Itachi spat. "How would you know, you, you worthless little brat?! I killed our father with every intention of winning that fortune, and I assure you, I will do it again!" He ignored Mikoto's cry from behind Sakura. "When I blamed you for it, brother, I had no second thoughts. I am willing to do anything, ANYTHING, for that fortune! Including killing you BOTH!"
Itachi's finger curled around the trigger.
"Are you ready to DIE, little brother?" he hissed. Sasuke straightened up.
"If I do, I'll take the bullet holes in front, to prove that I finally stood up to you," he said calmly. There was no fear in Sasuke's stance, or his eyes. Itachi smiled cruelly.
"Then I guess I'll make it a double killing, then!"
Sasuke closed his eyes, ready to die. Mikoto whimpered in the corner. Itachi was just about to pull the trigger…
A cell phone rang abruptly in the stillness.
Sasuke opened his eyes a tiny slit. The phone rang again. Itachi fumbled in his pocket with his free arm, pulling out the cell phone and flipping it open.
"Hello?"
"I killed our father with every intention of winning that fortune, and I assure you, I will do it again! When I blamed you for it, brother, I had no second thoughts. I am willing to do anything, ANYTHING, for that fortune!"
"What the-?"
Itachi stared at the receiver, which played the recorded message yet again.
"I killed our father with every intention of winning that fortune, and I assure you, I will do it again! When I blamed you for it, brother, I had no second thoughts. I am willing to do anything, ANYTHING, for that fortune!"
Sakura smiled grimly as she pocketed her own pink cell phone. Honestly, these things were marvelous.
"STOP RIGHT THERE AND DROP THAT GUN! WE ARE THE POLICE!"
The gun slipped from Itachi's limp fingers as uniformed and armed police rounded the corner, guns at the ready.
"We got your call, miss," one of the officers said, stopping abruptly as he saw Sasuke bleeding copiously from one shoulder. "What on earth happened here?"
"Mom," Sasuke whispered, pale as a sheet, choking on a mouthful of blood. "Hey, Mom?"
Mikoto raised her head, looking in fear at her youngest son.
"I was innocent."
And Sasuke slumped to the floor in a pool of his own blood, just as the media burst from around the corner.
OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Will Sasuke LIVE?! The completion of Alley Oop, final chapter coming out soon! Let's see...is 30 reviews too much to ask? I know you're all dying to tell me what you thought of my climax!!!!!!