Breaking The Habit

CHAPTER 21

Rena's lips were moving as if he was talking to himself, but nothing came out. His eyes were glued to the few red spots on Sakura's neck that were obviously made by Sasuke the other day. This could either be a very bad thing or a very good thing.

Sakura's body was tense as she waited for any other reaction from her former teacher, but it seemed that he was somehow in a loop. His fingers were brushing the red skin and his mouth only moved. For a moment she thought that the hickeys had actually broken Rena and his whole mind set. It wouldn't be that bad if someone came right now and found her. It would be much worse if any other reaction came after his shock.

Sakura actually was very startled when Rena suddenly sprang up from the bed. He was shaking his head and brushing his fingers through his messy hair. His steps were silent as he walked back and fort on the wooden floor that creaked under his weight.

Earlier Sakura had come to the conclusion that the house she was in was actually pretty old. Since the style was anything but modern and the walls were decorated with tapestry that was falling off, she doubted the house could even stand for much longer. Sakura wasn't the type of person to wish bad things for anyone but as Rena walked on the wooden floor that whined and whined with each steps, she hoped the floor would give under him.

Just please, anything at this point would be great in her mind. She just wanted to get as far away from that man as possible. Last encounter with him had been anything but enjoyable since he had drugged her and tried to take advantage of her. Even though, she wasn't a virgin anymore, thank goodness, she really didn't want Rena anywhere near her body.

Her lower region was still sore from her private moment with Sasuke and even he had said that he would let her rest for a couple of days at least. For which she was very thankful because Sasuke wasn't that small.

"Who?!" Rena suddenly bellowed and made Sakura jumped in her restraints. Rena had turned to look at her completely his eyes wide and the look on them wasn't something that Sakura wanted to see. The flash of crazy and madness was all over them. Sakura wasn't a fan of horror movies, but for now it seemed like she was in one. He looked so mad and angry and somehow lost at the same time.

She swallowed hard and looked around the room. She wasn't sure should she answer him and what exactly she should even say.

He was just plain staring at him as if expecting her to say something.

"What?" Sakura croaked with her dry throat. Her words seemed to suddenly snap him out of the moment and his mouth opened for a moment as he thought of something. His hands started brushing his hair again and he left the room leaving the door open.

Sakura was now even more baffled at what was going on. What was wrong with this man?

Biting her lip Sakura reached her upper body to the side so that she could see what was outside the room. Unfortunately it seemed to be a mere hallway with a flower print painted on the walls. She couldn't see anything else except a small side table that had a vase on it and dried flowers. Where the hell was she?

Rena's quick footsteps echoed in the house and soon cam back closer to the room Sakura was in. So she was in a second story house at least. That's somewhat progress. Now she needed to come up with an idea to get rid of the ropes.

Rena barreled into the room holding a water bottle. He opened the cork with a snap and relief flooded Sakura. It was unopened. She didn't want to be drugged again. It wasn't a nice feeling. The man came to the bed and sat back down to the spot he had occupied earlier. Tilting Sakura's head upwards he helped her to drink slowly. His eyes were somewhat glossed over as he watched her drink the water slowly.

A drop of water fell from her lips and Rena instantly pulled the bottle away. Sakura wanted to recoil away as he rough thumb brushed the water drop away.

It was agonizing. Sakura's whole body wanted to retch and back away, but she was unable to. Drinking half of the water on the bottle Sakura cleared her throat. What if she faked the need to pee. He would hopefully allow her to get to the toilet and that's where she would come up with something better, and she wouldn't be in these ropes any longer.

"I need to pee." She said and looked at the man sitting so close to her.

"N-no!" Rena yelled and scared the living daylights out of Sakura. She wasn't expecting a burst like that at all. "No, no, no, no! You'll escape!" Rena looked horrified and started to pace around the room once again. He was pulling his hair and shaking his head.

"But I really need to go." Sakura said with a soft tone.

"That's when everyone escapes! I've watched the movies, too, you know." Rena said with a chuckle.

This wasn't working for Sakura's vantage at all.

"So I have to pee myself?" She continued to pressure him.

Her words stopped his movements and he was chewing his nails for a moment before again leaving the room. To Sakura's amusement the guy had a lot of energy for someone who was as malnourished as he was. He was almost skipping through the house as he went looking for something. His loud footsteps disappeared for a moment and Sakura tried her best to hear what he was doing.

A loud bang was followed by a muddled up curses before Rena was coming back upstairs. He was holding a low rimmed pot in his hands that looked over fifty years old. It had rust all over the turned rim and the white paint was chipping off.

"You can pee in this." He said and looked proud of his idea.

"H-how?" Sakura's eyes were wide from nervousness. She wasn't about to pee in a pot.

"I'll just-, I'll just raise you a little and, and-" he stopped mid way and started staring at Sakura's legs. And she knew well enough what he was thinking about.

"The bruising," he suddenly continued and shook his head. Like someone had pressed the reset button, Rena dropped the pot and left the room again. He was acting very weird and Sakura couldn't help but get more nervous. It was like he couldn't focus on one thing for much long before another thing interrupted his thoughts and doings. It was nerving to watch someone to be so out of reality that they were a mess.

Sakura felt bad for the man. He wasn't okay at all. Not on any level; not on mental or physical. He needed some serious help if he wanted to get better at all.

A strangling fear came over Sakura as Rena came running into the room. He was panting hard and sweating like a big. He lowered himself down and picked pieces of rope from under the bed. Sakura was utterly confused as Rena tied a new rope around her left ankle tightly and holding it in place strongly. Sakura's leg was pressed painfully against the mattress' springs and Rena opened the rope that held her to the bed.

With quick movements that even surprised Sakura, he pulled her leg towards the right side of the bed and right next to her right leg. Then he continued to wrap the rope around both of her ankles with bruising force. Her legs started to soon tingle from the lack of blood flow.

Next thing he did was attack the ropes holding Sakura's hands but this time he wrapped her right arm over her stomach before forcing the other end of the rope around her torso. Constantly he was stopping and waiting in complete silence before moving back to tying her up. Few times he looked over his shoulder to the doorway and waited, but nothing happened and neither did Sakura hear anything.

She had no idea what had caused the man to seem so frantic as he pulled her left hand next to her right. She couldn't move any of her limbs once again for even though he seemed very weak, his hold was relentless. Before she could even question his motives, he had taped her mouth and had her already over his shoulder and was leaving the room. Sakura couldn't see where they were going but when she felt the stairs coming, she praised herself.

From her point she could easily see Rena leaning against the wall as he panted her as if he had done the hardest exercise ever. His legs were wobbling and steps seemed strained. And not to forget, with each unsteady steps down the stairs Sakura felt his bony shoulders digging into her stomach.

As expected, the work load and running around exhausted Rena too much causing him and Sakura to fall the rest of the steps. Sakura's shoulder was pulsing painfully and so was her head as she came around. She was lying on her back in another hallway that seemed to be a small foyer. Rena was groaning in pain next to her on his stomach trying to get up.

What the hell was happening?

Trying to stand up didn't work very well, because Sakura couldn't use her hands and the pain on her shoulder was unbearable.

Rena finally pulled himself up with a loud roar and stumbled over to Sakura who was able to turn onto her stomach. The man almost stumbled over her but caught himself before he fell. Sakura tried struggling against him as he turned her around and caught her under her armpits. As he started pulling her down to another room she cried out in pain. Her shoulder felt like ripping apart.

Rena's hold on her faltered at her cry before he peeked over her shoulder. Her shoulder looked out of place and to even Sakura it seemed like it was out of the socket. Rena cursed but continued to pull on Sakura and they entered a kitchen. He let her go and set her on to the floor next to a plastic looking table. Actually he didn't just place her on the floor, he just let go off her and she fell with a loud thud. Something snapped again and Sakura felt the painful way her humerus fell back into its socket. It was painful.

Looking frantically through the drawers, Rena kept glancing over his shoulder.

Someone had to be coming.

Sakura was so sure of it. A creak from outside caught her attention and Rena's also. Both froze completely. Rena then picked something from the drawer but Sakura couldn't properly see what it was. Glancing around herself she looked around to see anything to help her get free. Noticing a lighter covered in dust under the table Sakura inched herself closer to it.

Rena didn't seem to mind. He was completely focused on the side door of the house. He had placed himself in between Sakura and the door shifting his weight from leg to leg.

"Rena!" Sakura froze as she was about to bend herself to the lighter. The familiar voice made her heart leap as she recognized Sasuke's voice. What was he doing here? Did he have any back up?

"Rena!" He yelled again but the said man didn't reply.

"I know you're in there, and I know you have Sakura. Just come out and nothing happens." Sasuke continued but didn't receive an answer.

Sakura finally grabbed the lighter and wished for it to work. Just as she flicked the roller the door to the kitchen was kicked in loudly and Rena had to cover. Sakura couldn't focus on what was happening because she was trying to get the lighter to work. But as she focused on lighting it, she could easily hear the grunts and a sound of something heavy falling on to the ground.

As she dared a peak up, she saw Sasuke and Rena on the floor with a knife between them. Sakura's mind reeled in panic. The knife's blade was turned towards Sasuke who was fighting against the older man. Both looked mad, in their own way. Sasuke looked mad as in angry and Rena looked crazy.

Not looking at the lighter in her hand Sakura forgot about it and only when the flame burned her sore wrists she reeled back and took notice of the burned ropes and tiny bit of her flesh. With adrenaline bumping through her veins she was able to pull the ropes apart from her wrists and then bending to untie her ankles.

Sasuke's eyes flashed in her direction for a moment before he yelled at her, "Sakura, the gun!"

Sakura was confused. What gun was he talking about?

Looking around she saw a gun lying on the side of the room. Sakura ran for it quickly and grabbed it. She had no experience of how to use a gun or at least what she should even try to do. With shaking hands she looked up and saw that the tables had turned. Sasuke was lying under Rena and the knife was inching closer to his throat. Sakura could finally hear the sirens from afar, but looking at the scene in front of her she couldn't wait for the police to come.

Looking at the tiny protruding thing at the end of the gun, Sakura pulled at it and heard a click. That had to be the safety lock. Pointing the gun towards the battling duo with shaking hands, Sakura aimed and fired.

Sakura's ears were still ringing from the loud shot. Her whole body trembled as she thought of herself pulling on the lever that shot the bullet. How could she have done that? She was in panic and in pain. She couldn't think through all the stress and pain she experienced.

But none of that eased the torment inside her. She had shot a person.

"Oh my god," she mumbled and started shaking more.

A green dressed paramedic lowered herself to Sakura's level as she was sitting on the edge of the ambulance.

"Are you okay?" The paramedic was middle aged woman with dirty blond hair that was pulled into a tight bun and she had smile wrinkles around her eyes. She looked kindly at Sakura, who was shaking and the paramedic grabbed Sakura's left wrist gently. Sakura's wrists were wrapped in bandages and she was given some pain medicine. Also her right arm was in a sling because of it being dislocated earlier.

"I shot another person." Sakura choked and tears started to fall from her eyes. She couldn't stop them coming as she lowered her head and cried her heart out.

"Sakura, everything is going to be alright." The paramedic soothed her, "You didn't kill anyone. He's being rushed to the hospital, right now to get best care he can have. No one is going to die."

"But-, but what's going to happen to me." Voice cracking Sakura cried even more.

"Nothing. You're not going to be charged with anything. It was self-protection from the start."

A sound of feet scraping the ground indicated that someone was coming. Both Sakura and the paramedic turned to see a police officer walking their way. He had a notepad on his hands and a gentle look on his face.

"Sakura, right?" He addressed Sakura and she nodded.

He crouched down next to the paramedic and offered a tissue for Sakura.

"I've gathered as much information from everyone and considering the fact that you were kidnapped, you're not going to be charged with anything. And I doubt if Mr. Rena tried to charge with murder it wouldn't go through. All the facts scream of self-defense and you also protected Uchiha Sasuke, who was about to be stabbed by Mr. Rena.."

Sakura brushed her tears away.

"So, I'm going to be alright?" She asked with a quiet tone.

"You're going to be alright, kid." The police officer smiled and ruffled Sakura's hair. With that he rose up and walked to talk with Sasuke's father's men, who had surrounded the place and were roaming everywhere. Two men were standing at a distance looking in Sakura's direction and she knew they were told to watch after her.

She felt a bit better. Of course nothing dwindled the fact that she had used a gun to shoot at another person, but she wasn't going to end up in jail. She just was so scared at the time.

"When can I see Sasuke?" Sakura finally asked the paramedic.

"I'll go see, right now." The paramedic rose and walked around the ambulance towards the other parked right next to it. Sakura sat there and waited as she wrapped the comfy blanket even more closer to her body. She felt cold to the bone, and she was hungry. She really wanted some pancakes.

The paramedic came back, "Come!" She said and waited for Sakura to follow her. The woman wrapped her arm around Sakura's shoulder as she lead her to the other ambulance. The side door to it was open and Sakura peeked inside to see Sasuke facing the rear end of the car with a bandage wrapped around his throat. Rena was able to lower the knife enough so that it grazed Sasuke's neck and cause a wound.

The wound wasn't deep or anything but the paramedics still wanted to check on it. They had even called a doctor, who worked with the paramedics and he had put few stitches on the wound just in case.

As if knowing that Sakura was there waiting for him, Sasuke looked over his shoulder before flinching from pain. The wound was sore and moving his neck didn't feel very nice at all.

"Can I go now?" He asked the doctor and paramedic, who were writing his information down on the papers.

"You can, but I think it would be better if you went to show that wound to another doctor in few days. Just to check that it was healing correctly and properly. And if you get any weird symptoms then rush to the ER and tell about the wound. It should be completely sealed by tomorrow, but avoid getting it wet until then." The doctor explained and shook hands with Sasuke, who got up from the stretcher and jumped out of the ambulance.

Sasuke didn't wait even for a second as he pulled Sakura into his arms. The warm and familiar feeling of Sasuke hugging her caused her to cry once again. She just couldn't help it.

"It's okay, we're alright." He mumbled to her ear and pulled her a little closer while at the same time being careful of her shoulder.

So I think the next chapter will be the last? Oh my... I've been so productive lately that I'm actually finishing this story. I'm going to miss writing this because I have to say this has been my best story so far.

Thanks for reviewers:

SakuraXAkatsuki

IheartSasuSakuIta

memyselfandI98 (Sasuke spends time at his parent's house and in his own penthouse. It depends on his mood and if he wants company.)

ILoveSxS

SSTrans

aprilbabyy26

Jax

and two guests.

So after this I'm not quite sure if I should start writing another SasuSaku story. I'm very tempted to write a mafia one or something that happens in the middle ages. What do you think? Or than I'll wait until I've finished His Possession and then I'll start a new story. Decision, decisions.

Also I write weekly news on my profile so go check them out every once in a while. You'll be on track what's going on.

- Jakura