Beaten Black and Pink Chapter 21: We Live a Dying Dream, a naruto fanfic

Funniest Review of Chapter 20: Alive In Wonderland: I feel so bad for Sasuke. *heart breaks* I swear. I...*dies*

Funniest Comment Since Chapter 20: One of my best friends: (Paraphrased) I heard from a friend that this guy he knew broke up with his girlfriend just before Valentine's Day because he couldn't figure out what to get her, and then a couple days after Valentine's Day, he asked her out again, saying that 'he wanted to get back together.'

Beaten Black and Pink
An AU Sasuke and Sakura Fanfiction
By Krabby Patties

Chapter 21: We Live a Dying Dream

I would tell you that, as soon as I slammed my door shut the night after the dance, I didn't cry, but that would be lying.

.ZOMG.

After I made Sasuke's and my "break-up" official on Facebook (meaning I changed my relationship status from "in a relationship with Uchiha Sasuke" to "is single"), I got twenty three comments from various friends and family saying they were sorry and asking how I was doing. I waited several days until everyone seemed to have said what they need to say, and replied with: "I'm fine. We're fine. Things just weren't working out between us."

My email overflowed with a ton of Facebook alerts telling me that people had replied to that with stuff like:

"No way!"

"I'm so sorry!"

"But you two were so cute!"

"I've never seen Sasuke look at other girls the way he does at you. What could have gone wrong?"

"Why the hell did you give up that fine piece of Uchiha ass??!?!?!"

"Get back together!"

"You're dumb, Sakura."

I didn't know what to say, so I didn't.

.ZOMG.

My weekend was weird, to say the least. I kept getting concerned phone calls from worried friends, which was thoughtful of them, but it became incredibly annoying after a while. I turned my cell phone off finally and spent the weekend reading whenever my mom wasn't bothering me. She found out about the break-up from my cousin who I was friends with on Facebook and kept coming into my room with ice cream or cookies and asking me to consider getting back together with Sasuke. Jeez.

The Monday after the dance, I woke up and had no appetite. My mom tried to force me to eat something, but I refused.

It was weird walking into school without Sasuke beside me (or should I say, me beside Sasuke, because he kind of was the more impressive person). Even when Sasuke had a business related thing to do, he always picked me up in the morning, walked me to my locker, and then left before homeroom.

People stared at me. I stared at the floor.

I walked into homeroom/first period early because I had no reason to stay out at my locker. I had always managed to find something to talk to Sasuke about while we waited for the homeroom bell to ring, a topic that he would actually dialogue with me about.

I kept my nose in my book while people shuffled in so that I wouldn't be bothered by their concerned looks and stares. God, people just needed to get over it.

Neji took the seat beside me, Sasuke's seat. I didn't notice until he pushed my book down, causing me to look up.

"Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm good," I said. I wasn't about to say how I was really feeling because I didn't really know. And I wasn't about to tell Neji how I had liked him the whole time I was dating Sasuke (like I told Sasuke I would). I was too afraid.

Neji's lavender eyes sent me a pitiful stare. "Do you want talk about it? I'll listen. I promise." He smiled a little.

I lifted my book back up again and searched for the spot where I left off. "No." What was there to talk about? Sure, I could go ahead and tell Neji the truth, but what would that accomplish. Honesty? Shut up.

The Hyuuga pushed my book down again. "Can you at least answer me this? Did Uchiha hurt you?"

I shook my head then looked away from Neji's concerned eyes. I stared at my book for a while, not reading but thinking.

.ZOMG.

At lunch, we continued to sit at what was originally Sasuke's table, having nowhere else to sit. I ignored my friends' worried glances and ate in silence. Neji joined us for what felt like the first time in the school year. My friends accepted him back into the group like he hadn't ignored them for weeks.

Sasuke hadn't show up to homeroom that day. I didn't see him in the language hallway. He didn't go to our study. I wasn't surprised when he didn't show up in Vertebrate Anatomy or Creative Writing later that day. It was so strange to walk out of my classroom and not see Sasuke standing there waiting for me. It would be something that I definitely had to get used to.

"S-Sakura?"

I looked up at Hinata.

"Are you okay with sitting here? I'm sure we c-can try to find another place t-to sit, if you'd like."

I shook my head, smiling genuinely. "It's all right. Seriously."

Hinata smiled back.

"So, I think we should hang out this afternoon," Neji announced, pretty loudly. He was grinning at me in specific but talking to everyone at the table. "Everyone okay with coming to my house after school? I want to make up for the time I lost dating that bitch." Neji stuck his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of Ino's table.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered.

"With that big ass TV? I'm so there!" Kiba said. He, Chouji, and Naruto slapped high-fives.

Neji looked away from me for a moment to ask Hinata to let Tenten and the other Tree Kids that weren't at our lunch know.

"Sure," she said.

And then he went right back to staring at me.

I blushed under his direct stare. "Stop staring at me." I flailed my hand at him a little.

"Sorry." He looked away but looked back for a few moments, smirking, before starting an intelligent conversation with Shikamaru.

.ZOMG.

Hanging out at the Hyuuga's was so nostalgic. I remembered sitting in Neji's room, in front of his TV, for countless hours while we joked and flirted and talked. Neji and I were best friends. I didn't think anyone knew me better than he did (well, maybe not as well as my mother). I wondered if Neji and I could ever go back to being the best friends that we were. It seemed like Neji was trying, but it would be hard.

It felt really nice to hang out with Neji, though. He smiled at me a lot and he could still make me laugh hysterically. Whenever he spoke to me, he would touch me. Like, he'd put a hand on my hand or on my back or on my knee. And I won't lie, I loved the attention I was getting from him.

While watching Naruto make a fool of himself playing some fighting video game, I finished my Sprite. I stood up, going to Neji's personal fridge and couldn't find a drink in there that I wanted. I figured there might be another Sprite in one of the kitchens.

I stepped out of Neji's room without saying anything. I knew how to get to the kitchens and I knew how to get back. I didn't need to bother anyone.

The kitchen on Neji's floor was dark and empty. This one was rarely used so I was not surprised. There was an island in the center, a few windows on one wall, a balcony. You know, it would have been the perfect set for a horror movie. Can't you just see some creeper creeping in the glass doors of the balcony? Well, I wasn't afraid. I knew this kitchen like my own kitchen.

I opened the fridge and an unopened box full of Sprite was resting on the bottom shelf. I ripped off the end and pulled out a Sprite. I spun around, closing the fridge door with my foot as I opened the can. After taking a sip, I started toward the entrance.

I didn't make it very far when someone jumped up from behind the island. I screamed and dropped the can, ready to book it out of there. I charged for the door, hoping they didn't have a gun, so I could warn Neji and the others. He leapt in front of me, laughing, and I discerned that it was Neji.

I punched him in the chest, smiling. "You suck."

He laughed again. "Hey, hey. You can't beat on the Hyuuga prince, scaredy cat."

I ducked away from him and walked toward the other end of the kitchen, embarrassed. "Shut up." I pulled a dish towel out of a lower cabinet and began cleaning the split soda off the floor.

He bent down beside me, another towel in his hand. "Do you remember when we were playing Hide-and-Seek and you thought you could hide in the corner over there"—he pointed to the corner on the far side of the kitchen—"but I found you in the first two minutes of the game? That had to be the worst kidding spot ever."

I wacked him on the shoulder with my wet towel. "Yeah, well, I thought it was a great spot. No one had ever hidden there before."

"Because it's so obvious!" Neji was laughing pretty hard at me.

I joined in his laughter. "Why the heck were we playing Hide-and-Seek anyway? We were way too old to be playing that, like five years too old."

He shrugged as he stood up, can in hand. "I don't know. I do know that I found you every single time because of your pink hair." He ruffled my hair and I jogged away from him.

"I suggest you stop making fun of me," I said. I was bent over the sink, cleaning my sticky hands.

"Why? What are you going to do about it?"

I spun around and did not expect Neji to be right behind me. He stepped closer and put his hands on the counter top behind me on either side of me.

"I said…" He leaned into me. "What are you going to do about it?"

My eyes found themselves on his lips, but I quickly caught myself and stared at his eyes. "I'll, um… I'll…"

He didn't let me answer. He swiftly descended on me and kissed me. And I'll spare you the details, leaving you with: we made out in his kitchen.

.ZOMG.

The next day at school, Neji took Sasuke's seat in English again. We hadn't talked about our little encounter and I didn't know what I would say anyway. 'Sorry, but I had been waiting to kiss you forever and then we did and whole time I was thinking about Sasuke'? No.

But, don't misunderstand me. That kissing session was awesome. I wanted to do it again as soon as possible.

Neji had barely said hi to me when Sasuke walked into the room. He stopped short when he became aware that Neji was sitting in his seat. I watched his eyes drift toward Neji's empty seat and then they focused on me. Before I could try to figure out what emotion I saw there on his face, he spun and walked out of the classroom.

"I guess Uchiha isn't really over it," I heard someone say behind me.

I didn't see Sasuke for the rest of the day.

The day after that, when Sasuke walked into the English classroom, his seat was unoccupied (Neji hadn't arrived yet), but he sat straight down in Neji's seat near the front with barely a glance at me. I was hurt, really hurt. Was Sasuke avoiding me? And I hated that I felt hurt. I told Sasuke that this was what we needed to do. We weren't supposed to talk to each other for a few days, which was exactly what we were doing. I missed him so much though.

I watched his bent back all class long. I examined his pointy shoulder blades, the tense muscles around them, his wide shoulders, and the many knobs of his vertebrae. Sasuke had an exceptionally sexy back.

After class, I noticed Sasuke grabbing books out of his locker. I couldn't resist the temptation. I shuffled over to him.

"Hey," I said, smiling.

He looked up at me, slammed his locked door shut, and marched away. I clutched my chest as I watched Sasuke walk away. I felt like my heart was being ripped to pieces.

What have I got myself into?

.ZOMG.

On the Monday of the next week, I found myself behind Sasuke in one of the lunch lines. I don't think Sasuke had stepped into the cafeteria in a week. He must have eaten with Kakashi-sensei or something. I had seen Sasuke a couple times in the last few days of school, but he'd managed to get away from me every time before I could even open my mouth. I didn't even know why I was so eager to talk to him.

It was actually Hinata, who was in line with me, that noticed the god in front of us. She pointed at his back and, after seeing what she was seeing, I held in a gasp. How could Sasuke get out of this one? He didn't even know I was behind him.

I sucked in a big breath. I was going to ask Sasuke if anything was wrong with him, because he definitely wasn't acting normal. Maybe Itachi and the gang were bothering him or maybe it was like the anniversary of his parents' death. He certainly couldn't have been so miserable about our "break-up."

I stepped beside him and put a hand on his arm. "Sasuke. Hi." He gave him a little innocent smile.

Sasuke's head turned and our eyes met. His mouth opened a little and I swear he had moved closer to me. In a second, he broke eye contact with me and glared at the floor. He ripped his arm away from me.

"D-don't touch me," he hissed. He charged out of the cafeteria.

I looked back at Hinata, astonished. She shrugged and gave me a sympathetic look, and I could see a few guys behind her sniggering.

"Hey, Haruno," one of them said, smirking, "if you're so desperate, I've got a penis too, you know." He thrust his pelvis toward me.

His friends chorused with some "Me too"s and also thrust their pelvises.

I glared. "Oh, shut up and keep your small penises in your pants," I sneered.

"It's longer than Uchiha's," that first guy said. Yeah, there's plenty I could have said to that.

"Maybe," I said, raising my eyebrows, "but length doesn't mean girth. I don't want to be pricked by a pin."

His friends chorused with some "Oh!"s and some "She told you!"s and I turned away from them, satisfied.

.ZOMG.

Now that I was boyfriend-less, Rock Lee approached me anytime he could, asking me to dinner, to the amusement park, to the movies, and even to marry him. If he was nearby, I could see Neji become wicked jealous and always had to interrupt Lee and send him away.

For the rest of the week, Neji and I hung out every day after school. Sometimes he came over my house and sometimes I went to his. We gossiped about Ino often and sometimes he'd prompt me about Sasuke and I couldn't think of anything bad to say about him. Neji wouldn't believe me.

We didn't kiss again. Yes, we flirted copiously, but no kissing. Can't say I was entirely happy with that.

And on Saturday, my dream came true. Neji asked me out.

"So, Sakura," he'd said, holding my hand while we took a walk around his house and grounds, "I know we've both been single for only two weeks, but will you go out with me?"

I stopped suddenly and Neji was little surprised.

He was flustered "I mean, we can wait a few weeks if you want. I just thought I'd ask. What's the worse you can say? No?"

"Yes!" I leapt onto him, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck.

He laughed and kissed me sweetly on the lips.

Don't judge us.

.ZOMG.

"I need to talk to you."

That was the first thing I'd heard out of Sasuke in the next two weeks. Yes, I realize Sasuke never talks in the first place, but sometimes he'd let out an insult or yell at someone to get out of his way. Instead, he'd been silent.

Neji and I had stayed behind to talk with Kakashi-sensei and we were leaving, school being over. It looked like Sasuke had waited outside of the classroom for us. Well, for me, more specifically.

I looked up at Neji and then back at Sasuke. Sasuke was staring intently at Neji with narrowed eyes. He didn't look like he was mad at me. Maybe his hate for Neji was so overwhelming that he'd forgotten that he was angry. It seemed plausible to me.

I stepped toward Sasuke, letting go of Neji's hand, expecting Sasuke to just be like, "Sakura, I'm sorry for avoiding you and ignoring you for several weeks now."

Not exactly.

He reached out to take my wrist (I'm guessing) but stopped suddenly. Instead, he made a beckoning motion with his hand, glared at Neji, and walked down the hallway. I followed him. We walked all the way to the opposite end of the hallway and rounded the corner into the last classroom on the right.

"Think we've gotten far enough away from Neji?" I said, smiling at Sasuke. I did not want to give Sasuke a reason to be mean. And if I was murdered, I wanted to be able to say in court that I did not instigate Sasuke in any way.

"No," he said monotonously. I couldn't figure out if he was joking or not.

I sighed. "So, what is it?" And I figured I should add something that would make my testimony sound even better: "Is everything all right?"

He didn't answer. He ran his hand down his face and he almost looked ten years older. He also looked a lot thinner. His cheeks were shallower, his fingers, bonier. His skin was paler, his eyes were bloodshot, and his hair was limp. This was the first time I'd really looked at him in a long time and he looked sick. Like, "I have a mental illness" sick.

"This is hard for me," he said into his hand. He had one hand resting on the teacher's desk and the other covering his face.

I walked closer. "What is?"

His hand moved to grip the edge of the desk and his knuckles turned dead white. He growled and, I swear to God, if Sasuke suddenly burst out of his clothes and revealed himself as a werewolf, I would not have been shocked. That's how he looked to me.

"Sasuke, what's wrong?" I was standing behind the teacher's desk now, next to the chair, and Sasuke was in front of it.

I watched him take several ragged, deep breaths. And then his head shot up to look at me.

"I love you."

"Sasuke, you look really bad. Are you sick? Why are you in school? You should have stayed home. Or you need to see a doctor or something. If you don't want to see a doctor, I'm sure the nurse will see you. Maybe she's still around. You really look terrible, Sasuke. And have you been eating? You look like you lost weight. You haven't suddenly become anorexic, have you? Do you feel okay right now? You look like you might throw-up or—"

Sasuke's fist collided with the top of the desk and I started.

"God damn it, Sakura." He looked like he was going to hit me and cry at the same time. "I just confessed to you."

"Uh." I blinked a couple times. "What?"

"I said, I love you."

"Pardon?"

"I don't know how to make it any blunter." Sasuke walked around the desk to join me on the teacher's side. He took my hands and lifted them a little. I swear there was some kind of electricity flowing between our hands. He was smiling now. But it was one of those smiles that tries to hide the stomach cramps you've got. A pained smile. "Haruno Sakura, I'm in love with you."

I choked, coughing a little. "What?" I pulled away from him, bent over a little. My heart was battling it out with my tonsils. My stomach did a little flip. Uchiha Sasuke was in love with me?

"Seriously, Sakura?" Sasuke sounded disappointed in me now.

"No, I heard you this time." I put down the hand I was holding up at him. "You're in love with me? Why?"

"Well…you're…you're selfless. You're beautiful. You're…" Sasuke groaned, his face tomato red. "Sakura, you know I can't do this."

I think I was hyperventilating a little. "I mean, I'm going out with Neji now. You can't be in love with me."

"Why not?"

"And you haven't even known me for that long."

Sasuke stepped closer to me and smiled, and I could see the a little bit of that modeling!Sasuke in that smile. God, if he had smiled any wider, I think I would have fainted. He put an extremely gentle hand against my cheek. You know, after watching Sasuke almost stab some pencils into a kid's head one time, it was weird to feel him touching me like this.

"When I'm with you," he said, "nothing else in the world exists except for you. And when I think about you, my heart races. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. If that isn't love…"

I took hold of his forearm and pulled his hand away from my face. I couldn't look him in the eyes, because, if I did and saw that everything he just said was the truth, I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do what was right. "Sasuke…"

"Sakura, please." His voice cracked. "Tell me you don't feel anything for me."

I let go of his arm and backed away. "I can't—"

He grabbed hold of my shoulders, stopping me. "No!" And then he hooked a hand on the back on my neck and set his lips on mine before I had a chance to react. He pushed his lips into mine, hard, like he was trying to express every emotion he felt for me in that one kiss.

He pulled away and his eyes searched mine. I stared back, awestruck, for a few seconds. Then I shook my head like I was trying to shake off the lingering feeling of Sasuke's lips on mine. I looked to the floor. I couldn't look at Sasuke while rejecting him. This was harder than all the times I rejected Rock Lee and the few other guys who have asked me out. Much harder. I had never felt anything for them.

Sasuke was different. I didn't want to hurt him. He'd been hurt too much already.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke." I stared at his shoes. "I don't like you like that. We're just friends. I'm going out with Neji and I'm in love with him."

He didn't say anything and didn't move.

I dared to look up at him. "Okay?" I smiled.

He sort of looked like he was going to cry. "Please, Sakura."

I took several steps away from him. "No, Sasuke."

"Please." He treaded nearer to me. "I need you, Sakura."

"No."

He managed to grab my hand. "Please, please give me a chance. I hate seeing you with Neji. I can treat you better than he can. I'll do anything for you."

"No."

Sasuke's eyes filled and he looked like he was about to collapse. "Please." I'd never heard anyone beg so convincingly. I felt like every time Sasuke spoke, he was winning me over.

I had to be harsh. "Sasuke, think about the position you're putting me in. I'm already dating someone and you want me to break up with him so we can try dating again. I can't do that. I'm in love with Neji." I stressed the word love pretty hard. "I've been waiting for him forever. I'm sorry, but I can't be with you." I almost didn't believe my own words. "I wish you had told me before I—before Neji asked me out."

He was glaring at me now with immense ferocity, hot tears dripping slowly down his cheeks. He said, "The things I love, I lose.

"First, I lost my parents.

"And now I've lost you."

.ZOMG.

A.N: Oh my pancakes. You hate me. I know it. You hate me. I'm so sorry. I understand completely though. I was reading this Maximum Ride story and in the middle of it, Max and Fang (Max is a girl) split up because Max goes to a new school and this new girl (who I absolutely hated) starts becoming too friendly with Fang. I quit reading that story because I was so bored with it. I promise you though, Sasuke and Sakura will reunite and there will not be some new girl that gets to friendly with Sasuke.

NEWS: Yes, this is the last chapter. There is still an epilogue though, so don't remove this from your story alerts yet. I'll put that up wicked soon. And I'm also going to put up a preview of the sequel in the chapter after the epilogue and, once that gets up, that's how you'll know the sequel is up. Or you could add me to your author alerts, whatever you want.

SNOOZE: Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie is out tomorrow (here in the U.S., at least). I'm SO EXCITED!!! LOGAN LERMAN, HERE I COME!

Happy (early) V-Day!
Thumbing through the pages of my fantasies,
ЖЯдβБΨ ۹Ǻ†ŧỊ€ی

Epilogue Preview:

'Cause We All End Up in a Tiny Pine Box, A Mighty Small Drop in a Mighty Dark Plot

"I'm just going to say it.

"I love you.

"I love you, Uchiha Sasuke."