She closed the door, feeling immense guilt pooling in her stomach. 'Should I really be leaving him alone right now? He seemed so different...' To think that the Sasuke from a few nights ago; that scarfed down everything on his plate, and half of hers, and the Sasuke from tonight; that barely ate even HALF a meal, were the same person.
'Hopefully that ointment will help him out with that fever... Wait!' She twisted the door handle, 'I didn't put the blanket back on him!' Upon cracking the door open, the memory returned to her with a pang, 'yes, I did.' She shut it again, 'what am I thinking?'
She sighed and pulled off her shirt, then carefully unclasped the safety pin for the necklace, 'and it's odd that he was shivering when his skin was so warm... No, stop it, Sakura. The faster you shower the faster you can go check on him, now stop worrying about it.' She quickly flung off her remaining clothes and stepped into the shower, drawing the curtain across as she did so.
"Okay, time to wash off this day." Was it bad karma, or something? Getting woken up at 2, then the attempted mugging, and now Sasuke was apparently sick. 'With this luck I didn't get the money out in time, either.' Maybe she'd call her dad when she was done, just to check.
Sakura twisted the knobs and pulled the tab, shooting the spray of warm water upon her. She turned up the hot water, desiring it to soak away all her thoughts; or at least wash away her stress. 'Those scratches... What if Sasuke had been-"
"SHREE"
went the shower curtain as it was pulled open, and she twirled around to see HIM, and shrieked. "SASUKE?!" Trying to cover your wet parts with only two slippery arms proved to be quite a task: she covered her breasts, then remembered down below and flung an arm to block it. After that, her incredibly small boob somehow managed to pop out over her arm. She finally noticed the shower curtain and dragged it to shield her from his blank staring. "What are you DOING?!"
"Uh-I, uh..," he blinked at her and brought his hand to his face as if his head ached, "you, uh, just screamed, didn't you?"
"No, I did NOT SCREAM! You're the worst peeper EVER! GET OUUUUUUTTTT!" She screamed out, with all the air in her lungs. The nerve of him to come in here when she was showering! She grasped the closest bottle and whipped it at him, "E-yah!" Sasuke flung a hand up to block it, then looked wide-eyed at her, "but-!" She grabbed the next one on the shelf, the conditioner, "OUT!" -clunk-! Then the next without delay, the body wash, "OUT!" -clunk-! 'How many times do I need to say it?!' The shaving cream was next, and she hurled it at him good, "OUUTT!"
"Fine! Fine!" Sasuke dropped the curtain and ducked out sight. She looked down and saw the last one remaining: the small bottle of face wash, and pitched it at the entrance wishing for one last hit. It clunked against the doorframe, which reminded her... "AND SHUT THE DOOR!"
"ALRIGHT!" Then Sasuke slammed the door as loud as he had yelled. Apparently fate wanted her to see him before her shower was over. Sakura covered her face, 'why did he do that?! He saw me naked!' Was it revenge for her telling him to take off his clothes? No.., he had said something about screaming, right? "Aghhh, I don't know!" She grasped her hair and huffed.
'My shampoo is out there...' She peeked out around the curtain, for some reason still excepting to see Sasuke. She gently tip-toed out and gathered her things, feeling the extra heat leave her body in steam, and quickly hopped back behind the curtain before it all left her. She dragged it back into place with the same "shree" noise. 'That's probably what happened! He just heard the shower curtain and thought I screamed...'
She sighed, 'yeah Sakura, because he's never used this shower before.' She scrubbed herself down, and began to consider her body, and her reactions. 'I wonder if he liked what he saw? Should I have invited him in?' Then she roughly shook her head, "don't be stupid, Sakura..."
"Mm..," Sasuke sucked on his tongue but could taste no moisture. 'Water...' He sat up and tossed the blanket aside, then gently eased his groggy body off the couch and unsteadily walked toward the kitchen.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
His head shot in the direction of the scream: the bathroom door that was recently closed, 'Sakura!' He charged forward and the breeze from his speed felt good against his sweaty forehead, despite the circumstance.
As he approached the bathroom door, he could hear the steady drizzling of water on the other side. 'What if she fell and broke her head open?' Sasuke swung open the door and wasted no time in ripping the shower curtain aside to see his collapsed friend.
"EEEEE! SASUKE?!" Sakura's arms swam confused around her body before she yanked the plastic screen from his grip and pulled it before her, "What are you DOING?!"
"Uh-I, uh..," he blinked at her gaping expression and could still picture her squirmy naked form despite her coverage. He brought his hand to the bridge of his nose and rubbed just beneath his eyebrows, "you, uh, just screamed, didn't you?"
"No, I did NOT SCREAM! You're the worst peeper EVER! GET OUUUUUUTTTT!" She swung out her arm and grabbed the shampoo, then flung it at him without a moments notice, "E-yah!" Sasuke blocked it with his hand, then looked back at her, "but-!" The onslaught of more bottles began, three more crashed into him, each matching up to an "OUT!" from Sakura.
"Fine! Fine!" Sasuke dropped the curtain and ducked out of the bathroom, hearing the clunk of another plastic bottle hitting the doorframe. "AND SHUT THE DOOR!" She hollered after him. "ALRIGHT!" He slammed the door back in place and sighed, 'tch, way to over-react.' Fanning off the steam that stuck to his clothes, he made his way back to the livingroom- when some movement caught his eye through the glass door.
Sasuke looked to the dog curled up on the chair before him, and back through the glass, 'an intruder?' He walked over and tried to see where they had went as far as he could lean, 'there's a space between the garage and the fence.' An unnerving feeling began to settle in his chest as he looked out, especially when he saw a sway of what appeared to be black hair retreat behind the garage.
He found himself remembering Sakura's words to him in the park; how she had cried, and slid the door open. Drawing a breath and cautiously stepping outside, then stepping toward the end of the garage, a thought kept repeating in his head: 'I have to protect her.'
Sasuke had to sidestep in order to fit through the small, empty space. He gasped when the shadow before him moved and escaped from the crevice, again with that flowing black hair. A mature feminine laugh sounded in front of the garage, and his heart caught in his chest at the familiar sound. "W-Wait!"
He guided his hands on the building and his back against the fence, as he inched through the remaining space. Dust and dirt flung up from his skidding feet, and settled on his skin and clothes before he finally crawled back into the light. He shaded his eyes, "who's there?!" They adjusted quickly and looked around, but didn't see a single soul.
'That's odd..,' he took a few steps toward the front of the house when he saw it: the slight opening to the garage. He narrowed his eyes at it, then looked back at the house. Everything appeared to be normal there, so he hooked his fingers on the bottom of the garage door. He took a few short breaths before hurling it up in one swift motion. It clacked against the track as it slid back into place.
"I know you're in there!" Sasuke squinted to see into the darkness. It appeared to be like any other average family garage, maybe a bit smaller. It was obvious that even fitting one car in here would be a stretch, particularly from all the junk piled around the room.
He took a step inside, and the high-pitched cry of the alarm resounded through the no longer silent air. Sasuke jumped and covered his ears, 'wait, that's not an alarm...'
He felt his way into the dark space, and the sunlight seemed to follow right behind him when he would make sense of the shapes ahead. Tucked away in the far back corner was the culprit, squirming on the hidden changing table as it wailed.
Sasuke climbed over the dirty cardboard boxes and reached out to the baby, "shhhhh..." For a few seconds it only hic'd at the comfort of his hand, but it was temporary before it started crying out again.
"Ah..," he gripped the sides of the child and lifted it toward him, causing it to wail louder still. "Shhh, I've got you," Sasuke spoke gently to the infant as he tucked it into his arm, "I've got you." Luckily the child was already wearing a diaper, 'but who would leave a baby in a cluttered garage?'
Sasuke carefully inched his way back over the boxes, and the cries softened to light moans. He took a final look around the garage, but it was clear that there was nothing else in here. 'What about that woman? Is this her baby?' That didn't seem right... That woman, and her laugh, were too similar to his own mother for him to believe that.
'How am I going to tell Sakura about this?' His feet sifted through the front lawn as he walked to the house, "and what am I going to do with this baby?"
A/N: Got this one up pretty quick, eh? ;D It was surprisingly easy to write, maybe because it's pretty short compared to the last chapter haha.
So let me know what you think!