Instant Message
By Keelah
Makeup n
1: materials used in changing one's appearance
2: a mask
(3: and my pathetic attempt to fool Sasuke.)
Chapter TWENTY EIGHT
Superficial
A deadened feeling pervaded my entire body, in addition to the black void that seemed to have replaced my brain—which clearly lacked the ability to function at the moment. I moved mechanically about the room, grabbing a fitting brown shirt and a pair of jeans as I changed into something other than the clothes I'd worn in school for the whole day. That being done, I stood before the full-length mirror embedded on a wall just by the entrance of my closet.
Orbs of faded emeralds stared back at me. Dried streaks of tears were apparent on my cheeks, and the puffiness of my eyes jumped out markedly, making my image worthy of comparison to an insomniac. Instinctively, I pulled out a small drawer, revealing a clutter of assorted cosmetics. I'd never been one for makeup; that had always been Ino's thing. I hated the feeling of indefinite chemicals and powders overlaying upon my skin. Whenever I was under the obligation to wear makeup (for performances and such back when I was younger and occasional parties where Ino would force me) I would always have the natural urge to rip off the superficial mask of prettiness. Ultra-thick foundations dried up my skin; eyeliner irritated my eyes; mascara blinded me; strong perfumes made me want to gag; and I always managed to somehow lick the lipstick off my lips before the coloring could even last an hour. Needless to say makeup disliked me, and the feeling was mutual.
Nonetheless, from the compartment, I extracted numerous cosmetic materials: foundation, eyeliner, eye shadow, mascara, concealer and other items that I did not know names to. Possessing such things despite my obvious aversion to makeup was a result to having a cosmetic-maniac for a best friend. Ino had repeatedly remarked on the plainness of how I chose to doll up for school. The revamps I took on only went as far as I the clothes I wore; tats, diets, makeup, jewellery and other excessive refurbishing I never once considered. I'd never even permanently dyed my hair.
Yet despite all these, involuntarily, I applied each article one by one and began to build a face of vivacity. Before long, I was smothered with powder and oil and wax and cream and nylon and who knew what else. I made sure the dried tears were wiped off completely, and the redness of my eyes covered. In less than eight minutes, I was back to the image of a happy-go-lucky girl that could fool anyone. It would do for now.
Sasuke came within nine minutes and fifty seconds.
The smooth, recognizable sound of the doorbell rang once throughout the house, followed by a faint exclamation of "Door, please!" by my Mom—who was no doubt too preoccupied in cooking. Carelessly, I brushed my hair in one swift wave and hurried down the stairs before my dad got up to answer the door.
"I'll get it!" I called out; reaching my destination, already I knew who waited on the other side. I didn't specifically know what I called him for. It was mere instincts, and surely I did not voluntarily dial his number with a sane mind. One thing was for sure: I hadn't expected him to come, much less quickly. But for that, I was glad. Drawing in a deep breath, I opened the door ajar. Standing on my doorstep, clad in his usual thick, dark sweatshirt and jeans, was Sasuke. "Hi."
He frowned, instantly picking up the lack of enthusiasm. As his eyes drilled into mine, the crease on his forehead deepened; I felt naked, to be frank, as though he could see right through the facial mask I'd struggled to put on earlier like it was transparent plastic. I'd been wrong when I thought the makeup could fool anyone; clearly it did not fool Sasuke—which was something I should've known, really. It was my childhood foe that knew me more than most, and it was he that could read me like an open book, ironic as that was.
"You called."
"Yeah—but..." I halted, shaking my head. "I don't—I don't know what I was thinking, really, but I just... I needed..."
"I know," he cut me off gently.
Again, my head whipped from side to side. "You have no idea."
"I know more than you give me credit for."
My fingers tightened and gripped on the door sill in preparation to shut the door at my will's command. "I shouldn't have bothered you, sorry—"
"Are you busy?"
The question surprised me. My hand stilled. "Uh—right now? My parents are home; we were actually... just about to have dinner—"
"Would it be okay with them if I took you out?" His offer rendered me speechless. My mouth was open in attempt to speak, but my brain presented no words to articulate. I gaped.
"Like, a date?"
"Hell, no."
I remained silent for a short while, attempting to say something, anything at all, until finally I gave up. I needed him to go, but I needed him to stay. The urges of the latter swelled more, and hesitantly, I opened the door wider and motioned for him to come in.
"I'll ask, I guess." I said quietly as he stepped into the small foyer. Unimpressed, his eyes roamed around from floor to ceiling. His reaction surprised me a little; people, at their first time coming over, were always in awe of the house's immense interior. Sasuke, though, acted as though he'd seen the place a hundred times before. Brushing off his indifference, I walked down the short hallway, with him at my tail.
"Mom? Daddy?" I called as I pushed open the glass doors that lead to the kitchen. My parents, still in the same position as they were when I came home from school, with my mom shuffling about in an apron and my father working on the island's counter, looked up and smiled at me. Soon though, their nice-and-easy gaze turned into that of surprise and confusion. I'm guessing Sasuke had already stepped into the room. "Uh," I began awkwardly, "Can I go out with a friend tonight?"
My father's eyebrows shot up at my forthrightness, as Mom's eyes narrowed slightly. Oh, great. I started out so wrong. Quickly, I thought on my feet for the right subsequent thing to say. "Mom, Dad, this is—"
"Sasuke." A smooth, deferential voice interrupted from behind me, "Uchiha Sasuke. It's nice to meet you, mister and missus Haruno." In the corner of my eye, I saw him nod in acknowledgement.
I raised an eyebrow, a facial form of What the hell. It sounded... so bizarre coming from Sasuke. His manners did no effect on my parents however; or, maybe a little on my Dad. Mom, strict as ever, had her eyes narrowed in suspicion; while my Dad, carefree as ever, simply gave Sasuke a once-over. Or twice...thrice.
"Uchiha, eh?" He repeated; his eyes now distant in contemplation. "I've heard that name before."
I stiffened. My father, back when he was still in the force, worked with Kakashi, who in turn had been Sasuke's then (and present) supervisor; all the while my mother, who specialized in criminal law, must have had undoubtedly came across Sasuke's case more than once. Of course they would remember that he was the kid I ratted on years back, the kid that had been the cause of my short-term trauma. In no way would they let me go now.
"It's a common last name." I reasoned quickly.
"Actually, it's not." Sasuke whispered in my ear. "Uchiha happens to be a rare, highly-regarded family name."
"Shut up." I hissed back.
"Ah! Uchiha!" Dad exclaimed to himself all-too-humiliatingly, "It was in Abumi's file. I'm guessing you're the punk who turned the kid into a vegetable?"
Dad's gusto and nonchalance—that was expected I supposed, although my mother wasn't all that animated at the newly resurfaced fact. "Zaku Abumi? A friend of mine took his case, years ago. I read his file." She was frowning now, in contrast to the "my-oh-my" expression Dad lightly wore on his face. "Sakura, can I speak to you for a moment?"
And here goes the lecture. Left without a choice, I followed my mother into the living room and braced myself for a ton worth of admonitions on Sasuke. I could only hope Dad wouldn't launch into another one of his all-in-fun supposedly humorous stories about my childhood days unknown to me as I explained.
"Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura?" My mother whispered sharply, shock and disapproval out-and-out in her two widened eyes. "You are going out with a delinquent?" If the said delinquent (a more cordial term for what Dad had called him, "punk") hadn't been standing on the other side of a fairly thin wall of wood, I assumed my mother would have been screaming.
"No, no, no." I replied, just as taken back at her allegation. "We're not... together, not at all. We're friends, or, we're not even friends, really..."
"Don't tell me you've been spending time with this boy! Sakura, you of all people should know what had happened with him years back."
"Yes, but Mom, he... changed. Anyway, I need to just go. Please."
"Absolutely not!" I groaned at her response. "This boy has been in a lot of trouble, Sakura. I'm not sure he's someone you should be associating with."
"No, he's...Sasuke, he won't do anything. I mean, he's not a complete angel but... he's not the same anymore."
"I don't know..."
"We're just going to grab a bite to eat, and come back real fast, okay? Please?"
She frowned sceptically, and hesitated before replying, "We'll see what your father has to say—but I'm not happy about this. That boy is trouble." Typically, she would think so. She knew the dos and don'ts when it came to rules and laws, and knew perfectly well the ones Sasuke had already broken. When it came to faults, my mother took things in an uncomfortably straightforward perspective that almost made it impossible to come up with a good excuse. Uchiha Sasuke was not a matter she would easily let off, that was for sure.
Coming back into the kitchen, I found Dad at the heart of the tale of How I Accidentally Killed a Hamster, something he usually recounted just after the story, Sakura Got Lost in an Airport and Wound up in Another Continent. At the sight of Sasuke's amused expression, I instantly flushed. I'd expected my father to interrogate Sasuke just as any other Dad in the world would do if their daughter had let in an unfamiliar boy; I'd expected them to talk about Sasuke, not me.
"Daddy," I interrupted before the old man walked further down the humiliating memory lane of my childhood. "Can I go out to eat with Sasuke?"
The light in my father's eyes faded away at the mention of Sasuke's name and the words "go out" in the same sentence. "It's a school night."
"I'm not going clubbing, Dad." I remarked. "It's not like I'll stay out till four."
"Well..." he pondered for a moment, stretching out the one-syllabic word as his eyes flickered to Mom for a second notion. She gave him a wary look, clearly expressing her disapproval in a single glance. Equally, I looked at my Dad with big, hopeful eyes the same way I did when I was younger, using the same technique that usually got me what I wanted. The look did not fail me. Scanning Sasuke's tall figure as he stood graciously by the doorway, waiting with patience for an answer, my father reluctantly concluded, "...he seems like a nice boy."
My eyes brightened as my mother's protruded in shock. "Thank you."
"Be back by midnight." Dad chirped.
"Eleven." My mother corrected.
"Ten." Dad challenged.
"Nine."
"Mom, Dad." I interjected, embarrassed and humiliated. Jesus, it wasn't like this was a date.
Behind me, Sasuke let out a low, inaudible chuckle. "I'll have her back by nine." He said respectfully, his hand landing secretly on the small of my back. With a curt nod, he led me out the kitchen before any of my parents had a chance to reconsider.
I closed all the curtains in the living room and made sure the windows were shut before we headed out. Quickly grabbing a jacket, I followed Sasuke out the house and locked the front door behind me. Precautions, I had to take them. I knew the Rogue had left several minutes ago, nearly half an hour, with the sick intention of hunting down his new prey. Nevertheless, I had to be on my guard at all times. After tonight, with the Rogue on the loose, newly fed with blood and murder, there was no telling of what he'd do next. He would come back for more, that was for sure; and when he did I had to certify that my friends and family were out of danger's way.
This was my problem alone.
The farther away I walked from the warmth of my home, the feeling of light-hearted humiliation and casualness escaped from my body, and a familiar chill returned. Involuntarily, I shuddered. The action drew attention, and right away I felt a deep, intense gaze piercing through my back. Uncertainly, I turned my head.
I wasn't the only one whose mood had changed since our departure from the house. Sasuke's eyes, previously light and amused, had turned grave and unnervingly observant, staring at me without a single word. I fidgeted. "What?"
"Is something wrong?"
I flinched at his direct question. I hated it; I hated the mere question and its simplicity. It was either yes or no, yet it was something I couldn't answer honestly, not without putting another life at risk. Sasuke's straightforwardness, though, made it almost impossible to lie.
"Uh—no."
I was restless under his watchful, unwavering gaze. There was no doubt he could see right through my dishonesty; I couldn't quite imagine anyone who wouldn't. Finally, after the longest three seconds I'd ever experienced, his gaze shifted away. Relieved, I exhaled the breath I'd been holding. Unfortunately though, he wasn't finished with me.
"What you're running from," I jumped as he suddenly spoke up, "is it the same thing that you were trying to avoid that day I took you to the beach?"
A long, silent pause passed between us as I struggled to formulate a believable answer; but in the end all came up with was a useless, obviously false reply, "I'm not running from anything." His head fell to the side languidly with a raised eyebrow, a look that wordlessly told me I was horrible at lying. Stubbornly, I insisted, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I think you do."
"I think I don't." I snapped.
He shook his head in disbelief, disappointment clear on his expression. For a while we walked at a distance, away from each other physically and emotionally. I thought of giving him the silent treatment, but when he was doing the exact same thing to me, the technique didn't quite work both ways, and as a result we ended up with a big, fat silence.
Then, quietly, he whispered with a gentler tone, "Are you ever going to tell me?"
I bit my lip, searching my mind for the right word to say. What was there to say? The truth was no option, yet lying didn't seem to be of any help either. After much mental endeavour, I finally decided on an indirect answer. With a voice just as hushed, I replied, "I can't."
He glared at the pavement before his feet, never once lifting his eyes to meet mine. "...I'll figure it out myself then."
I snapped my head towards him, "Don't—"
"You can't stop me."
Facing him, I saw the decision in his eyes. There was no use battling Sasuke's persistence. I didn't want him involved, I didn't want anyone involved, yet despite that, his stubborn nature made me realize something.
Sasuke wasn't forgetting this subject anytime soon; he saw through all my deception and he knew I had something to hide. He wasn't going to give up that easily, I saw that now. Why, I didn't know, but at the moment I suppose that didn't matter.
Gradually, I found myself smiling.
Maybe, just maybe... I wasn't entirely on my own, after all.
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"Can you at least tell me?"
"No."
"Just give a hint."
"Fine."
"Really?"
"No."
Scowling, I turned away. In my peripheral vision, Sasuke smirked, triumphant, before recomposing his face back to apathy. Jerk.
We continued strolling down the road, every once in a while turning around a corner to a street I was familiar of. Once out of the residential areas, we had thankfully remained on the main roads, ones with both traffic and people happening about industriously. I wasn't entirely sure where we were going, but Sasuke was leading me farther and farther away by the minute.
For a second time, I was following him without any knowledge about our destination whatsoever. There were only two differences. One, he was here, physically; and two, we were going the opposite direction. The last time, Sasuke had led me to a more secluded part of town; this time however, the crowd seemed to be getting thicker by the block, and the chain of cars longer. The number of lights that dotted all around the vicinity redoubled; signs and advertisements of flashing neon illuminated the evening. Before long, I found myself standing at the heart of downtown Konoha, surrounded by the hectic world of trade and commerce.
"Sasuke?" I spoke over the noise level; or, at least tried to. "Where are we going?"
"Dinner." He said simply, the answer imprecise to my question. Then, with a bite to his tone, he added, "Why? Nervous?"
A little. "No." I denied, "Why here, though?"
"I have a place in mind."
I waited for an explanation; but as always Sasuke did not explicate further. Forever a man of a few words, he always seemed to find a way to say as little amount of speech as possible. Getting Sasuke to explain something required a countless bunch of follow-up questions—most of which he chose not to answer anyway.
"...Where, exactly?" I asked after a while.
"A restaurant."
I rolled my eyes. No duh. I needed more information than that. "Which restaurant?"
"Just wait." Why did I even bother to press for more details? Clearly, he was keeping me in the dark, and liking the fact that I was so completely clueless. For the second time, I thought: jerk.
Grudgingly, I followed behind Sasuke without another word, expecting him to eventually stop and say we were here. He didn't, and after several minutes, we were still walking. He made his way through the thick mob of pedestrians, walking past every restaurant in the wide boulevard. There were possibly a dozen diners compacted along each road, but Sasuke stopped at none of them.
Without a warning, he turned sharply to his right, towards an out-of-the-way street; a mere, unused lane connected to the tons of main, busy roads that interweaved around downtown. We walked halfway down the street before Sasuke veered once again, this time, to an alleyway. I halted fully.
Realizing I hadn't followed, he stopped and turned, seeing the hesitance evident on my face. "Scared?" His voice was taunting.
I quickly scanned the darker surroundings that waited before us. A sole light lamp stood meters into the passage, its faint luminosity only creating more shadows than light in the already shady place. High walls of the neighbouring buildings stood on either side, rusting metal and chaotic graffiti covering every inch of the vertical planes. Amid the shadows were indistinct outlines that moved every once in a while. God, what was that? And yes, Sasuke, if you couldn't already tell, I was scared.
"Maybe we...shouldn't."
As a response to my fairly reasonable precaution, he simply rolled his eyes. "It's fine." He dismissed nonchalantly, tugging at my arm in attempt to make me move, "You're safe." His words were touching, really, and it would have been romantic if it came from any other person but Sasuke. I wondered, though, if he meant it at all, if I could really trust him enough to know I was safe.
But it wasn't as though had any other choice. Either go with him; or stay and be left on my own. Unwillingly, I stepped into the alley and was instantly swallowed whole by darkness. The flickering, useless lamp post and the moon's glow were the only source of light in the passage; and though it was dark, there was enough light for me to perceive movements and alien shapes that, initially, I did not recognize. Eventually though, as my eyes grew accustomed to the dimness, I began to make out the shadows and realized what they were. A dark contour was hunched up against a tarnished back door, while two or three more oddly formed mounds scattered throughout the muddy floors. People. Homeless people, dirty and ill with who knew what, perhaps even a little loony. By the large dumpster just meters away, tall and big silhouettes hung about dangerously. Hoodlums, I assumed, who lingered smoking and blazing for lack of a better hobby. Slightly nervous, I closed in behind Sasuke.
"Stay close." He whispered, as he shifted directly in front of me, concealing me whole. However the deed only drew more attention rather than keep me away from it. The men turned their heads at our approach, a smile forming upon their lips. My heart raced.
"Sasuke..."
"Don't talk." I shut my mouth and lowered my head. I feared of what would happen next, of what this mob could possibly do, and for a moment I almost regretted ever going with Sasuke. Why had he brought me here in the first place?
Then, unexpectedly, Sasuke nodded; a casual, indifferent bob of his head—and my thoughts immediately stopped. There was something in the nonchalant gesture that told me something was off; their acknowledgements to one another were not doings of strangers who had randomly walked past each other. Sasuke had seen them before.
With less difficulty than I expected, we passed by the men unscathed. Their eyes were still set on me, I felt it. Sasuke glared, and they merely grinned, proud at the reaction they received, but never advanced; I was grateful for that. Finally, Sasuke and I turned around a corner. I found myself exhaling with relief, only to have air caught in my throat once more. The following path hadn't been any better. Save for the absence of daunting, dangerous men, the corner we turned to only led to a similar scene: a corroded, homeless-people spotted alley.
"What was that about?" I muttered. Sasuke shrugged—no comment.
We continued along the labyrinth of alleyways for several, uncountable minutes. This must be where the back alleys of the entire downtown area all linked, intertwined altogether into one big maze. I would have been disoriented within seconds if left alone in this complicated mesh—and this was evidently not an ideal place to be lost in.
On the other hand, Sasuke seemed to be doing just fine. Perfectly fine, actually. He turned and rounded around corners without a hesitation, and knew to an absolute extent where he was going—and though I was thankful that at least one of us had the sense of direction, I couldn't help but wonder how Sasuke knew his bearings so well. He maneuvered around the place as though he was merely walking around his house, as though he'd lived here.
From his familiarity with back alleys, to his obvious acquaintance with big, undoubtedly dangerous men, it was clear that Sasuke had been here before—much more than just once. Then, it occurred to me: Sasuke had lived here, more or less. He grew up in exactly this kind of environment, terrifying and hazardous.
Spending the past couple of days with Sasuke had me thinking he wasn't entirely mutinous anymore, that he changed—and maybe he did; but clearly, no matter how much his personality and actions from then to now altered for the better, his past didn't changed, and somehow his old behaviour still stuck to him like second nature.
The process of getting to know Sasuke was reversely different than becoming acquainted with a normal somebody. The more I spent time with him, the less I knew of him. When I thought he was entirely horrible, he showed me a side of him I'd never seen before. And when I was finally beginning to think he was good, he proved me wrong. As though serving as a reminder, he brought me to the world that he once lived in, of alleys and dark passages where most illicit activities happened, reminding me of the reality that surrounded Sasuke. He gave me mixed signs and behaviour that I did not know anymore just what he was.
You could know people for so long, but never really know them at all.
Despite his offhand lack of care earlier on just before we entered the alleys, he kept me safely behind him the entire time, until we finally saw the end of the passage. Sasuke and I broke out of the darkness after nearly half an hour of walking, and I relaxed with relief at the sight of people once again. We continued strolling, this time, side by side.
The street we were in was not a place I was familiar of. There was the same amount of people bustling about, but more litter, and less on the fancy category. It was a side of the city life I'd never been in. It wasn't as dynamic, wasn't as refined, but as I scanned my foreign surroundings I found something I'd never seen in the heart of the expensive city. Down the block, a child jumped up and down for ice cream, her father smiling; a regular group of pre-teens, clad in simple jeans and jackets, talking and laughing; an old man was helped across the street by a young lady; a family sauntered down the street together. There were no snobby teenagers, nor bratty kids, nor unfriendly seniors and ambitious businessmen, all reaching towards an unreachable state of perfection. It was different here. It was real.
Sasuke tended to do this—he brought me to places I wasn't accustomed to, he showed me a different environment, a whole new ecosystem that differed vastly from what I'd grown used to. He showed me his world, the good side of it; and, truthfully, it made me glad.
I glanced at Sasuke, fighting the small smile that began to form upon my lips. Sensing my gaze, he tilted his head to the side childishly and gave me a lazy-boy look, raising an eyebrow as his eyes danced in question and amusement. I almost laughed at the sight.
Then, without any warning, Sasuke's obsidian pools hardened to stone.
Uchiha Sasuke
"Sasuke...?"
His eyes left Sakura's to scan the crowd over her head, but by the time he did, the seemingly-insignificant anomaly he'd previously caught sight of was gone.
Damn it, where is he?
It was no coincidence. He'd spotted the figure too many times the past half hour; by Sakura's house, across the street, just outside the upper estates, entering downtown, in the alley—he'd seen a shadow. There was no telling that it was the same one, but he had a hunch that it was, and that many sightings couldn't possibly be a simple happenstance.
"What's wrong?"
Sasuke slowed to a stop, the girl following shortly after. She looked up at him with quizzical eyes, worry and confusion merged in sea-green pools. He cursed himself for ever bringing her here; it was the wrong place, at the wrong time. First, Haku and them. He hadn't expected to come across anyone in the back alleys, especially not anyone he knew from the past. It was lucky they hadn't tried anything, because if they did, he doubted his previous (now-broken) ties with the group would save him and Sakura.
And now, this—though he wasn't entirely sure what they were dealing with here. He could almost see him, almost, but their tail was expertly hidden. His eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"Sasuke?"
"Look at the corner just by the pharmacy store, in the side alley, across the street—No, don't point. Try not to stare." He watched as she turned and looked around offhandedly, her gaze sweeping past the spot he'd indicated. "What do you see?"
"It's a..." she hesitated, glancing for a second time, "A...shadow, of a person, I think. Is it?"
He nodded, "Seems so."
A frown settled upon her face, "What about it?"
"I saw the same silhouette earlier," he told her, "More than once."
The look she wore was now disturbed, afraid. "What are you saying, Sasuke?"
He gazed into her eyes, sending a silent warning; and then, with a grave, cautious voice, he uttered,
"We're being followed."
Author's Note: Typo? Grammar errors? Just include a lil note in your review. This chap wasn't as thoroughly proof-read (only twice) as I wasn't planning to update. But due to number of feedbacks I got last week, I figured it's my responsibility & gratitude to give you this fast update. =) As a thank-you gift!! Seeee? Good things happen when you review! lol
Read, Review & Thank You!
Keelah
(Ohohoho... it's Friday! && it's cold and sunny! && the week's over!!
...and the crapload of homework I have is just freakin' FAN-TAS-TIC. T.T" )
