One Year

NaruBaby2496

Chapter 26

Christmas Eve

Sakura stared blankly at her old bedroom wall, the pale pink and white walls, the mirror hung in front of her, her reflection taunting her, laughing at her, reminding her that she wasn't living the life that everyone thought she was, that she was harnessing memories so terrible and knee-buckling that would have normally driven her into insanity, further than where she was now, hiding from the rest of the world, locked away in her room in the dark, staring back at her self with dry and shaken eyes. She was broken, a happy soul with unhappy reminiscences that would not leave no matter what she did.

It did not matter if she felt so warm and light when she was with Sasuke, or tickled and giggly when with her friends. It did not matter at all. She knew the only way to help make things better, to really get any closure, was to not only forget, but to see and beat the hell out of Sai.

Sighing, leaning into her wet-from-tears pillows, she held back the moan that itched at the back of her throat. She was afraid of him, afraid of what he could, would, and probably will do to her if he came back, but also afraid of what he would do to whoever tried to help her. Therefore, she stayed quiet, taking the pain all of her friends and family would have faced to her own body bravely, wailing reluctantly into her pillow.

She needed help.

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Suddenly, after moments and moments of her cries, her fluffy pink telephone rang, and she yelped at first, shocked at the trilling melody. Relaxing herself, she reached over for the phone and tried to make her voice sound healthy and happy, "Hello?"

She could feel Naruto's happy smile when he exclaimed, "HELLO, SAKURA! Where did you go; Mars? Golly, you like, fell off the face of Earth. Are you okay; catching a cold?"

Naruto may be an idiot, but he had a knack for reading those he cared most about like a book. He knew more about them then they did themselves. Sakura lied, "Yeah, sure. What did you call for?"

He quieted, "Well, we've been kind of worried about you, Sakura. Are you sure that you feel fine? One-hundred percent times fifty?"

"I'm fine," She answered airily, hoping this would end it, but Sakura heard Naruto click his tongue, so she groaned, "One-hundred percent times fifty-one percent sure."

Naruto laughed, "Alright! Take some meds or something; you sound terrible…anyway, before you get too pissed at me for saying that; I have a surprise!"

She sighed, leaning up against her headboard, for her back was starting to ache. "What?"

"Sai is back!" Her heart stopped for moments, and her world would have fell out of celestial orbit and into a bottomless pit of a black hole if she could not listen in further, and hear the voices of Kakashi talking to Yamato, introducing him and Sai, she assumed, once again to Sasuke.

She could imagine the deep tension while they shook hands, because she knew that he never really liked Sai or Yamato, not that he had any reason to feel otherwise. He was better at picking up sneaky auras better than anyone she knew.

Gathering up her voice, she creaked, trying to sound excited, "Great."

She heard a few curses and the shaking of the phone on the other line, and eventually, Kakashi's lackadaisical voice informed, "We're at Naruto's having a Christmas Team Seven thing, you should come, exit your house, get some light, get some fresh air, and you should live."

His voice was a little overpowering, as if he was heavily recommending she should come, and that if she would not something bad would happen. Swallowing thickly she frowned, "I'll come."

Kakashi quieted his voice, "Are you okay with Sai and Sasuke being there?"

"Yeah." Even though she was not she assured, she promised, "One-hundred times fifty percent sure."

"See you in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, bye."

Hanging up her phone, she wiped away imaginary tears off her face. Sakura was walking into the worst day of her life. She knew it.

She knocked on Naruto's apartment door three quick times and prayed that Sai would not answer. She prayed to all the gods, she prayed so many different requests, and crossed her fingers behind her back like a child, cross promising that she would do anything they wanted her to do if Sai did not open that door. She closed her eyes and murmured, "Please, please, pretty pretty please!"

True to her horrible luck, the door opened and the pale monster stood there, a wide smile dancing across his face, lust and desire clouded in his dark eyes. He said through his deceiving smile, "Hey, gorgeous." He glanced behind him to make sure no one was directly in the doorway, close enough to see him yank her toward him by her wrists tightly, as tight as a vice, and he whispered darkly in her ear, "I don't like Uchiha…." She tried pulling away with all her might, her heart beating fast in her ears, but he pulled her flailing arms down with force, making her elbows pop. He smiled devilishly against her earlobe, breath uncomfortably hot, continuing, "Tell him to back off." Sai kissed her jaw, something that grossed her out, to be blunt, and then smirked, "Your mine."

She could feel the empty threat in his words, the threat aimed toward Sasuke and the possible toward her. Blinking and shaking she said emptily, no matter how much it hurt her to agree to, she frowned, "I'll do it."

He let go of her wrist and smiled brightly, taking her hand in a friendly way, pulling her into the living room and waving, "Look! Sakura-chan is here!"

She was in the body but not in the spirit, but the only one who noticed that under all the loud greets and cheers was Sasuke. She could not help but lock her gaze with his skeptical one. Sai stopped smiling for a quick second when he realized what Sakura was doing and he squeezed her hand harshly, reminding her of what he would do. Turning her head quickly, almost giving her whiplash, she cursed herself for being so afraid--since when was she so weak, so easily controlled.

All she had to do was knock this fool out and everything will be okay. She tried to send her attention away from the burn Sasuke's expressive eyes sent up her spine, and she could see his face clearly concerned, even though she was not looking at him. Hurriedly, she returned the hug Yamato was trying to give her, removing her hand from Sai's happily, even more excited that Sai had finally let her do something she wanted to do.

Hugging Yamato, though, she could feel Sai's angry eyes switching between glaring at her and Sasuke. She pouted; this was going to be difficult.

Sakura was seated between Sasuke and Sai, oh, heaven really hated her, and she felt like she could just go and hide in some rabbit hole and never come back. She wanted to—she wanted to run and hide and have it be a-okay when she came out. She knew it was not going to be like that, it was too hard to try to say it's true. She loves the both of them, but in two different ways.

The only reason why Sakura loved Sai was that he was there for her for the majority of the time Sasuke was not, and before he became a total possessive and sex-hungry ass, he was the most enjoyable, fun, and easy to talk to guy one could ever ask for. He was perfection. His kisses were just as smooth and passionate as Sasuke's are, loving and tender, but that was only when she whined and complained about being too tired to have sex with him and he would say with lust and anger in his eyes that he would get it tomorrow. She thought it was that he loved her so much that he wanted her all the time, but the one time—those numerous times—he didn't care about her being tired. He did not love her, but she was all ready too deep in love to fall out of love with him. Tsunade started noticing the differences in Sakura's behavior, the difference in Sai's behavior, too, and the telltale signs of an unhealthy relationship, so, she sent Sai and Yamato on a long search mission to some small village, far off past the ocean. That is what she does to this day; because she cannot stand to see Sakura like that—the way she is now—again.

Now he was back, threatening to do all those things again, and if Sasuke got in the way…she did not want to think about what he and his ROOT friends would do to him. She still cared for him. She—she could not explain it. Sasuke would piss her off in so many ways when he would kiss her, then walk away as if it never happened, or do something sweet, then be a bastard. He just cannot be a...not ice-cube. When he is this close to melting and spilling over, he would go back in the freezer. However, Sakura absentmindedly knew that Sasuke was not necessarily an ice cube anymore. He was caught in the middle, trying to decide if he really could, or even wanted to, melt and let everything out, all the inhibitions. She could tell by the way he would glare devilishly at Sai whenever he got the chance, clench his fists unknowingly when Sai touched her thigh in a not-so-friendly-but-trying-to-look-friendly way, and grind his teeth together when Sai would smile at her. Sasuke Uchiha was jealous; he had competition, and this competition was her ex-boyfriend who she was still in love with.

Sakura sighed, feeling more and more uncomfortable as the seconds passed. She pouted, wanting to slide down the couch and slither into some type of hideout. Especially so when Naruto noted, "Oh, look! Sakura's sitting next to Sai and Sasuke!" He grabbed an invisible microphone and pretended to be a talk show host, "Who will she choose?"

The thing is Sakura did not really know, now. If she picked the one she really wanted, the loser would kill the winner.

She covered her face. Her life was unfair.

When the sun started setting, Sakura decided that it was now totally time to leave. She couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stop herself from being paranoid; she couldn't force herself to listen to all of the pointless banter between her guys. She didn't feel safe next to Sai. She wanted him to leave—now. She didn't want to have to deal with him until he left tomorrow night. That gave him too much time—too much time to plan, too much time to execute, and too much time to leave if he was caught. Sakura couldn't do it.

She could scream right now.

"Sakura, you don't look okay. Do you want one of us to walk you home?" Kakashi asked, placing his Miller Light on Naruto's coffee table, and watching her with a worried look on his face. She reddened and blurted, "No-no. I'm fine. I'll just go home myself. There's still enough light out."

Sai smiled, leaning and looking at her face lustily, "I'll take you there."

She wasn't sure if it was just she, who heard the hidden message under his nice offer and fake smile, but this just made her heart beat rapidly and anger rise to her cheeks. She glared at him, growling, "Like hell you will."

When Sai glared at her roughly, just long enough for her to notice, she felt the air stiffen and she turned her head away quickly and rose awkwardly. "I'll be fine, I promise," She muttered, walking over to where her shoes were.

Sasuke followed Sai's steady determined gaze on her, and he felt something pull at his conscience, telling him to forget about manners and such, and to just kill this guy right now. He didn't convince him with his fake-ass smiles, or the way he tried to look completely friendly with Sakura. Sasuke's eyes narrowed dangerously, his fists clenching as he heard the closet door open and close, then the front door slam hastily.

He felt his electric chakras running through his veins, begging to exit, his fingers twitching, wanting to grab the sword of his that was still at his house. He should've brought it when he first heard that the Sai freak would be coming back.

"Is there something on my face, Sasuke-san? You've been staring at me for the longest," Sai smiled, a wary chuckle exiting his lips.

Sasuke growled, "Don't talk to me unless you want my fist smashing your face."

I reached out for my parents door handle and tried to pull it open. I groaned. Great, I thought, it's locked. My parents usually leave the door unlocked for me, since they know I always forget my key. I searched for any thing that could possibly get me in—a rock to break the window maybe—it was too dark to find one that would do that much damage though. I leaned my head against the front door in utter defeat.

The world hates me.

It's too dark to even try to make it to my apartment. It's another twenty minutes away from here.

My life hates me.

The fact was solidified when I felt a group of chakras heading toward me, and one stood out from the rest. My heart speed fast. Sai was heading after me, and I was too tired to do anything to powerful. The tears started forming in my eyes. My parents had to choose to live in one of the most secluded and empty places in Konoha. Nobody would hear me if I screamed.

I prayed again. I prayed audibly, wishing for someone or something or anything to happen that would be good. I prayed for a piano to fall on and kill Sai. Something. Then I felt it, his hands gripping my shoulders tight enough to break them, flipping me around to look at him. Therefore, I could see all of his friends huddled around him, egging him on. One had a video camera.

"You made me very upset, Sakura." He hummed grabbing my chin and forcing my head up so I could look at him in the eye. Those eyes were so demonized, determined. I yelped in pain.

I wanted so badly to just kick him in the balls but I was frozen, trapped in the trance. He leaned down to kiss me, but I found enough power to at least push him a couple of inches away. I screamed, wiping the hot tears that fell without my knowledge away from my cheeks, "Stop! Stop!"

Anger flashed across his face and he stormed toward me. He punched the door, missing my head by millimeters. My mind flashed to two days ago, when Sasuke did the same. The look in their eyes was so different. The type of anger of was different; Sai was mad that he wasn't getting what he wanted, Sasuke was mad because I wasn't telling him. He yelled, "Don't make this difficult! You should know how this goes!"

I scowled, pushing him with more force and sending him to the ground this time, "Back off!" The scream of mine echoed through the night; I hoped someone heard me. Wiping the dirt off his face, leaving a dirty trace of mud on his face, Sai rose evilly this time, doing nothing but glaring at me and heaving deeply. The moon made him look like a ghost, a ghost that still had one more immoral mission in life. Sai nodded his head toward his friends, "Go ahead, boys."

They stalked closer to me, the one with the video camera smirking, "This is your starring role, sexy…."

They ripped and pulled at my clothes, hitting me whenever I tried to protest, but I kept on kicking and biting them, anything to make them stop. One reached up to my skirt and tried pulling it up and I begged, screaming out. "Stop! Please, stop!" Some lightning cracked from far away, stopping the attack for a second, and I waited for the rain to pour down. That would make this night much more realistic; a much better movie. I frowned when it didn't come, my brows bunching in confusion as to why the guys where slowly separating from me, dropping me on the ground and walking into fighting stance, looking at something.

I peered in between on of their legs, and I saw Sasuke there, a huge Chidori wrapped around his arm. He had his Sharigan activated when he warned, "She asked you to stop; and I would if I were you."

He glared straight at Sai, who was smirking, "And what will you do; kill—"

It was too late though, for Sasuke already was on top of him, forcing him on the ground and choking him with his free hand tightly. He seethed, "If I have to, I will. Make your friends leave before I hurt them, too."

The rest was like some sort of movie to me, fast-forwarded and in black and white. None of Sai's goons had to be told twice, they scattered after a few 'tough' words, and Sai was too busy being pummeled to tell them otherwise. Sasuke didn't even give the ROOT Nin a chance to attack, it was kick after kick, and punch after punch, hit after hit, and it never seemed to stop. I wasn't afraid though, watching everything. I felt safer now. Especially when Sai limped away, glaring at Sasuke. I saw him say something that I couldn't hear under the pouring rain, but guessing from the way Sasuke flipped him off so easily without a scar on his body, it was a threat that meant nothing now that he had beaten Sai without difficulty.

Now he was walking over to me holding a hand out to help me up. I grabbed it without hesitation, though I was still shaking. "Thanks, Sasuke-kun," I greeted, looking up at him, who was still holding my hand. He looked so hard and silent right now, sorting his thoughts in his head. After a while, he nodded curtly, "You're welcome. Come on."

And then, he led me to his house in silence. It was getting a little awkard until he muttered, "You're telling me. Everything."

I'm mad at myself. I so rushed this. Anyway, I'm just trying to get everything going, and I really hate writing Sai, so I'm having him banished again. AWAY WIT YO WEIRD LIP! Seriously, I hate him.

Review as always!

~NaruBaby2496