Chapter 20
Awww! It's so sad:(….this is gonna be the last chapter of cleared so if you guys could be supportive, then reviews would be awesome…anyways, enough with the cliffie from last chapter…I present to you: -drumroll- CHAPTER 20! –round of applause followed by bows from the authoress-
Btw, if you guys wanna check out some of my other work, then read 'The Bedroom', which is a shikaino one….if you're more of a sasusaku one, then check out my three Christmas sasusaku oneshots! XD
Disclaimer: I no own so you no sue--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------/
Sasuke and Sakura moved closer and closer to each other…
Until….
They couldn't stand it anymore.
Sasuke suddenly strode forward purposely, a determined glint in his eye, while the audience avidly waited for his next action. Sakura, too, froze on the spot, and then continued to walk closer until the two were just inches apart.
"Sasuke?"
"Sakura?"
A few jeers were heard as someone in the back of the crowd shouted, "Hey! I thought this was supposed to be about Romeo and Juliet!" However, a whack from Tsunade quieted the otherwise suspenseful pause that lingered in the air.
"Sasuke? What is it? Are you sick? You look as if you're burning up!" Sakura worriedly put her hand on Sasuke's forehead as the audience cooed.
"No...that's not it Sakura…." Sasuke managed to say before closing his mouth and biting his lip.
"Then what is it? Tell me! Is there something on my face? What's wrong?"
Finally, after what seemed like ages, Sasuke spoke, to the audience's delight.
"Look, Sakura…you know how you've always been tailing me and how I've always told you off?"
Sakura nodded, letting Sasuke continue.
"Well….how about this once you help me out here and get me out of this…." Sasuke urgently whispered while Sakura decidedly sweat-dropped.
Sakura sighed.
"Fine…here…why don't we twist the ending –I mean, the whole play was already screwed up by Mr. F anyways…" Sakura suggested while Sasuke listened, "okay…look, how about you just commit suicide before the 'infamous kiss' and then we hurry you off backstage, where we make either Sai or Itachi come in and pretend to be you so that way we won't have you kiss…'kay?" Sakura came up with a plan distractedly, playing with a strand of her hair while waiting for Sasuke to approve of her plan.
Sasuke bent back dejectedly, and blew a bit of his hair out of his eyes too.
"Fine…let's get this started," he muttered, getting tired of the whole play.
Sakura grunted in agreement as Sasuke started to perform the planned-out suicide instead of the long-awaited kiss as the audience roared up in anger.
"Hey! You guys were supposed to kiss!"
"What happened? I thought they were supposed to make out before he died!"
"This play SUCKS!"
"What's with the whole plot change?!"
"Will someone just get that stupid Uchiha offstage? He's good for nothing! HE'S STUPID!"
"UCHIHA! GET OFF THE STAGE!"
The crowd screamed, throwing random things at Sasuke and Sakura as they both flushed in anger. Sakura, afraid that Sasuke would go all curse-seal on them, tried to stop it.
"SHUT UP! JUST LET US FINISH THE FREAKING PLAY AND MOVE ON WITH OUR LIVES!" Sakura panted, out of breath as she looked at Sasuke, a wordless plea to do something.
Sasuke just raised his eyebrow, as if asking her Well? What do you want me to do?
Sakura pushed the hair out of her eyes and punched the floor, using her chakra, and formed a crater in the middle of the stage. The people quieted as they looked at Sakura.
"Can we just finish the play? I mean, Romeo and Juliet is supposed to be a tragedy, so having them never kiss will kind of enhance the plot…okay?" Sakura glared threateningly at the crowd, especially at Kakashi who was getting ready to put another cd into the boombox/radio he was carrying.
Sasuke sighed –he had had enough of this and straightened up from his almost-stabbing position as he opened his arms up, dropping the knife in his hand.
"Just be quiet, got it? The play is going to be better than the original one, and if it isn't, then you can call me anything you want. However, until then, you have to believe in me and just watch, got it?" Sakura smiled in relief as Sasuke took control of the situation, but frowned in bafflement as she wondered what he meant when he said that that play was going to be better than the one Shakespeare wrote.
"Well…let's get on with it…" Sasuke whispered as he adjusted his costume and proceeded to speak.
"Sak…I mean, Juliet….I have always been obsessed with someone else, like Ita…I mean, Rosaline…but I swear, right now, that although you may be the most annoying, loud, chattering, weak, annoying, scary, freakily-strong, weak, blabbing, superficial, annoying girl that I have ever met and have ever seen…" Sasuke said, taking a deep breath while Sakura glared at him while he spoke of her –ahem- lesser qualities, "I believe that if you are at my side, then…well….things can happen."
Sakura shook her head in confusion. What did his words mean? Was he accepting her, or just insulting her? Or was this just part of the play?
Sakura had no time to respond, though, for at that moment when the audience whistled at the thoughts of the things that could happen if the two people on the stage were together, Kakashi had somehow wire up his radio/boombox so it was now blasting out some song that wasn't actually that perverted.
Scratch that.
It wasn't perverted at all.
Sakura smiled at the song choice as Sasuke tried to remember where he had heard it.
You're beautiful….
You're beautiful…
You're beautiful, that's true….
The song went on, and Sakura was positively glowing, but smiled sadly as the chorus repeated in her head.
You're beautiful….
You're beautiful…
You're beautiful, that's true….
A tear welled up in her eye and it made its way down her cheek as one line from the song struck a chord in her heart for what seemed the millionth time since she had listened to it.
…And I'll never be with you…
Sakura held back a sob, and forced a happy grin on her face, but found that Sasuke was looking at her with puzzlement, his eyes mainly focussed on her too-bright eyes suspiciously filled with tears.
"What wrong?" he said, tracing his finger down the trail of her tear, "Did I do something?"
Sakura shook her head, trying to engrave this moment in her head so she would remember it the next day when Sasuke would be back ignoring her again.
"No…" Sakura cleared her throat, "I'm fine…."
"Just fine…." She said, after a moment's contemplation.
"That's good…" Sasuke said, and Sakura inwardly cried some more as she realized that Sasuke would never know what she really felt, "But are you going to be okay if I do this?"
Suddenly, Sasuke's head descended onto Sakura's and she felt his lips on hers, as the audiences cheered and Kakashi winked in the background.
Sakura sighed halfway through the kiss. Was this just all an act? How was she supposed to react after they parted? And was he really just doing this because of the play? Why didn't he just go along with her original plan? Was he just doing this to keep his reputation?
A million questions ran through her head, but all of them were answered as Sasuke deepened the originally shy kiss. His hot breath steaming and mixing with hers, she grinned happily to herself, and granted him entrance into her mouth. As his tongue made its way, exploring all the hidden cavities in her mouth, he pushed harder, almost bruising her lips in the process, showing her (and possibly the crowd also), that he was the dominant one.
Being her first kiss, Sakura didn't know if it was the best one, a normal one, or just a plain awkward one; however, one thing in her mind was clear –this was new for Sasuke too –he wasn't perfect at this either –Sakura could tell from the way he held her body uncomfortably while his mouth was still on hers. Still, nothing could break this moment for Sakura, for although this new sensation was altogether surprising, she thoroughly savored the entire feeling, and stamped it into her memory bank, a testament of her memories with Sasuke.
As Sasuke put more pressure onto her lips, Sakura thought it was time to take action, and wound her leg seductively against hers, effectively easing the weight on her mouth as Sasuke inhaled sharply, breaking the kiss, but all the more becoming…shall we say…aroused. Sakura smiled softly at the sight of him, his hair slightly ruffled from when her hands had begun to play with his strands in the middle of the kiss.
However, before Sasuke and Sakura could 'act' some more, the curtain closed, and Tsunade started speaking.
"And here you have the 'happily ever after' version of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. We hope you enjoyed. Please throw your trash away while you leave, and please remember to congratulate the actors."
Behind the curtain, though, was a different story.
"Sasuke? What was that?" Sakura demanded, no longer smiling sultrily as she had been a few moments ago.
"What? It was for the play. I don't have feelings for you Sakura. After all, I still have to kill Itachi once he regains his memories."
Sakura sighed sadly, completely expecting his answer, and began walking away.
"Well…it was good working with you, Sasuke. I hope you complete your goal."
And with that, Sakura left a completely shocked Uchiha Sasuke as she slowly trudged home.
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(with Sasuke)
"Teme! What did you do to Sakura? She hasn't been out for a whole WEEK!" Naruto screamed in Sasuke's ear while they were supposed to be training as Kakashi read his little orange book.
"What? She said she was sick, so let's just leave her be," Sasuke sighed, "why can't we just continue sparring?"
Naruto, heating up, chose to ignore Sasuke, and continued on.
"I mean, you guys were fine on the day of the play. Hell, you even kissed the poor girl. Now, though, Sakura-chan's been cooped up her house, and I hear she's been crying all the time, according to Hinata-chan."
Sasuke smirked, "Hinata-chan? Since when have you called Hinata that? It sounds stupid, dobe, and it'd be stupider to go to find out what's going on with Sakura…now, either train with me, or leave."
"Fine!" Naruto harrumphed, "I guess I'll help her myself!"
And with that, Naruto stormed away, leaving Uchiha Sasuke alone, just like Sakura did a week ago.
Sasuke sighed, and began picking up the weapons that littered the ground. Unbeknownst to him, a certain silver-haired jounin popped up behind him.
"You know, Sasuke…Naruto's right…why don't you just see how Sakura's doing? If not as a friend, as a teammate."
Sasuke ran his hand through his hair.
"Fine."
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(At Sakura's house)
Knock. Knock.
"C-c-come in…" Sakura managed to hiccup under the pile of tissues that covered her while she lay on the bed.
The door opened.
"You should take care to lock your door, Haruno," came Sasuke's cold voice from the living room. Apparently, he was beginning to get closer to Sakura's bedroom as she could tell from the sound of his footsteps.
"Wait! Don't come in! I'm not dressed yet!" Sakura half-yelped, successfully stopping the Uchiha as she hurriedly tried to throw away the wet tissues and hide the chick flicks that were messily sprawled across her bedroom. Seeing that her task was done, she plopped herself on the bed, and cried out, "I'm ready!"
The door opened, and Sasuke walked in, examining the small, pink room, taking note of the trash can stuffed with Kleenex, and the television that was buried with DVDs.
"So? What have you been doing lately? You haven't been with us training this past week," Sasuke stated.
"Oh…" Sakura feigned a cough, "I've been sick…you know, with the whole cold thing that's been going on."
Sasuke sighed, "Sakura, stop telling me lies. Speak."
"Fine! If you really want to know, I've been trying to figure out what happened last week, okay?" Sakura screamed shrilly, surprising the Uchiha.
"Well, what went wrong last week?"
"Nothing! You just don't get it, do you? You always play with girls' feelings, and then when you steal their first kiss, you just say that it was for a stupid play and then let her walk away!" Sakura cried, grabbing another Kleenex and sobbing hysterically, "I-I-I-t's not FAIR!"
Sakura wailed for a couple of minutes before calming down.
"Well? If you have something to say, then say it. I don't want you to miss your oh so precious time that you could be spending training," Sakura spat, burying herself under the covers of her bed.
So that's what she was upset about. Sasuke walked closer to Sakura, and whipped the covers off the bed so he could see Sakura.
"Well…if you were really upset about that so much, then why didn't you just tell me?"
And with that, Sasuke's mouth closed over Sakura's for the second time in her life, and it was for sure as magical as the first experience was.
As they both parted for air, Sasuke smirked.
"So, are you happy now? Sure, that kiss was for the play, but I was saving this for later…"
Sakura playfully slapped Sasuke on the shoulder.
"Baka! You should have told me earlier!"
-Curtain closes-
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you guys, I was seriously gonna end it there, but seeing as I have some awesome reviewers, I decided to put this in…XD
(Three years later)
"Sasuke! He's your son too! I mean, just help me out here once in a while!"
A sigh was heard.
"Fine. I'll do what you want as long as I get to spend a whole night with you tonight alone."
A giggled resounded in the room.
"Sure, Sasuke-kun!"
Slowly but surely, the person in the window snuck up closer so that he had a clear view of what was going on between the newly-married Uchihas.
The spy giggled and started taking pictures.
There, in the middle of the warm living room standing in his full glory while wearing a pink apron and trying to make funny faces, was THE Uchiha Sasuke –and he was having his hair pulled by a small baby boy who looked suspiciously like a cross between his father and mother.
The person at the window sneaked away, with the pictures in hand and the Polaroid bouncing around his neck, and sped towards Kakashi's house. Once there, he burst into the room, and showed the said man the photos.
The jounin sighed.
"Naruto, when will you ever stop?" the silver haired man asked, his hand inching towards the orange book that was placed just beyond his reach.
The spy rubbed his blonde head.
"Kakashi-sensei, don't be such a party pooper! This is blackmail! I'm sure Itachi and Sai and you can do something with it!"
Kakashi sighed –Sasuke and Sakura were in for the time of their lives.
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So, that's the end….:(…I know, I know, it's said, isn't it? Anyways, I had a great time writing this fic, and I hope you had a good time reading it too, okay? Now, press the little review button so you can make this authoress happy! XD
I would like to thank my reviewers too for being just plain awesome. Thank you for supporting me all the way and I hope to see you soon!
THE END