title: Stories of Us
prompt: SASUSAKU MONTH 2013
rating: T-M

summary: o25: Ever since Sai broke her heart, Sakura's kept it locked up. Sasuke wants to be the one to open it up again.

.o25.
Locked Up

"You can't beat yourself up over that one guy," Sasuke said as Sakura turned him down once more. "I know that you've been hurt by him, but are you going to let him control the rest of your life?"

Sakura growled. "You know nothing about me, alright? You don't know what I've been through with him. And don't you ever talk about him like that again, you got it?" She dug her finger into his chest.

Sasuke decided to push her buttons a little further.

"Why not? If he's everything that you wanted him to be, why isn't he with you? Why isn't he protecting you from guys like me who want to treat you right?"

He could see Sakura start to flare up.

"Do you think he'd mind if I held your hand?"

Sasuke took her hand in his, lacing his fingers between hers.

"Or what about if I held you close to me, as if we were dancing?"

His other hand was around her waist, pulling her close to him, and he couldn't help but notice how well their bodies fit together.

"What do you think would happen if I tried to kiss you?"

Sakura couldn't respond quickly enough, and his lips were on hers. She felt warmth surge through her veins in a way that Sai never made her feel before, and before she could lose herself in Sasuke's arms, she pushed him away and slapped him.

But he smirked.

He fucking smirked.

"You're angry," he noted, cupping his swollen cheek. "You're angry because you know I'm right."

Sakura opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn't find the words.

"That guy has broken your heart, and you've kept it locked up until now. Well, Sakura, I'm going to be the one to open that lock."

There it was again. That smirk.

"Good night," he said.

Sakura didn't know what just happened. A flurry of events had just gone down, and she didn't know how to respond to any of them.

It had been a year since Sai left her for her "best friend," and she vowed never to fall in love again. But here came Sasuke, prancing around and saying all these pretty words to her and she just wanted to let herself go again.

But she knew better than that.

.

.

.

Even though Sai had treated her like shit, especially during the remaining times of the relationship, she couldn't bear to throw away all memories of him.

In her drawer, she had a stack of photographs and love letters that were kept hidden by anyone else who tried to snoop. They were locked up.

Just like her heart.

She heard a knock on the door and quickly stuffed the items back.

"Come in," she said.

There came someone—a couple—she didn't want to see. At all.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura asked, unable to find her voice. Her legs turned to jelly, and she couldn't stand up.

The fact that Ino was in Sai's arms just made it ten times worse, and Sakura clutched her chest in pain.

"Just wanted to see how my best friend was doing. We haven't seen each other in so long." Ino gave her a sickly sweet smile before leaning up to kiss Sai playfully, the way Sakura used to do. She felt physically sick when Sai chuckled deeply, his hand cupping her breast and squeezing it.

"I heard that Sasuke has the hots for you. It's a match made in heaven. You see, I spent so long chasing after Sasuke before I realized that he was no good for me. But Sai, on the other hand," Ino purred, her finger trailing from his torso to his crotch. "Sai is perfect. You had good taste, Sakura. It's a shame you couldn't please him long enough to keep him."

She couldn't believe that this was happening to her. "I need you to leave," she said weakly.

"Why? We were just getting re-acquainted!" Ino led Sai to Sakura's bed. "If it's alright, we'd like to spend the night here. But perhaps you and my boyfriend have already had some fun here, if I recall."

"…Get out," Sakura said softly, unable to find her voice.

"Hm?" Ino taunted, pulling Sai over her and lifting up his shirt. "Sorry?"

Sakura felt tears come to her eyes. "Get out," she said a little bit louder.

Ino was only wearing her bra, now.

"Still can't hear you."

With a voice that she didn't even knew she possessed, Sakura shrieked from the top of her lungs, "Get out!"

Tears fell down her cheeks and she collapsed onto the floor as the couple did their best to ignore her. Sakura crawled over to her drawer and threw all the memories of Sai she had at the two.

"I wish you two the best of luck," she choked out. "I hope you'll be as happy as I am."

She ran out of her dorm and ignored the passerby's glances until she bumped into someone.

"Shit, Sakura, was that you?" Sasuke asked, his voice full of worry. "Kami, what happened?"

"I need you," she begged, clutching onto his shirt. "I need you to promise me that you'll never leave me, no matter what happens."

"I won't," he said quickly so as to comfort her. "What happened?"

"I don't want to be under his control anymore," she cried. "No more. I want you to break the chains I have on my heart."

"Sakura, you're not talking straight—"

"Please love me," she said. "I just want you to love me."

Sasuke held her tight, stroking her hair as she cried into his shirt.

"I already love you," he said. "But the problem is, will you love me back?"

She sniffed. "I'm going to try."

He lifted up her chin and wiped away the tears from her pink eyelashes. "Let me kiss you."

She closed her eyes and waited for his mouth to meet hers.

And when it did, she felt the hard, metal chains on her heart begin to slowly break,

One by one.

OOC SASUKE FTW

I hate SaiIno btw but as much as I love SaiSaku I HAVE TO BASH THEM