Kiss Me
Sakura wanted to stay with Sasuke, but she ended up going back home because Gaara kept telling her to. But instead, she decided to go to her parent's place.
...it's been a long time since she's last seen them, anyways.
"Thanks for driving me here." Sakura made a faint smile at him as he walked her to the doorway.
"Are you gonna go back to school in the morning if you sleep here?"
Sakura nodded. "Can you come pick me up before seven?"
"Yea. And don't be too worried if Sasuke doesn't come. He's gonna have a major hangover tomorrow morning." Gaara smirked and shook his head.
"Yea. Hopefully he'll be ok, though." Sakura muttered.
Gaara gazed at her and then shook his head a second time. He knew it was too late now. No matter how hard he tried to win her over, he couldn't compete with Sasuke. Sasuke's already earned a place in her heart, and he knew he couldn't replace it.
"...so..." He paused for a moment, hesitating to say it. "...do you want to stop?"
Sakura looked at him, confused. "Stop what?"
"Us." Gaara replied. "Even though we weren't official yet, I honestly can't build up anymore confidence, no matter what how hard I try to convince myself. I mean, obviously...I can't expect you to like me if you already love Sasuke. And don't even say that you don't...because I can clearly see the way you look at him."
Sakura averted her eyes down sadly. "I...I'm sorry...I don't want to hurt you-,"
"It's fine. But I'll always be here if you need any comfort, ok? In a sense, I'm your soul mate." He just smiled reassuringly at her.
Sakura still felt uneasy. She really, really, didn't want to hurt him. She knew how much it hurt, and she didn't want him to experience that. Sakura boldly took a step forward and suddenly embraced him. "You're an amazing person...you deserve a girl who'd make you happy and loves you unconditionally."
Gaara hugged her back tightly. "...thank you."
Sakura shook her head. "I should be the one thanking you. You're always there whenever I need someone...thank you so much."
Gaara sighed and rested his head on top of hers. "Damn...it'd be perfect if I met you before Sasuke did." He made a small laugh. "But reality isn't that perfect."
Sakura forced a smile. She had to agree...if she met Gaara first, she was sure that she would totally be heads over heels for him.
The next morning, Sasuke woke up...of course, his head was pulsing like crazy.
"What the hell..." He groaned and fluttered his eyes opened. He was confused at first, but as he looked around, he recognized it was Suigetsu's house.
Sasuke let out a sigh when he remembered how much he had drank last night.
"Yo!" Suigetsu came out of the kitchen, munching on an apple. "You're awake early!"
"Ah...you didn't go to school?" Sasuke asked as he got the blanket off of him.
"Tch. Why would I leave you here alone?" Suigetsu shrugged and sat down on the couch next to him.
Sasuke stayed quiet and thought for a moment. "...wasn't...Sakura here last night...?"
Suigetsu nodded. "Yea. She stayed for a while, but left with Gaara-,"
"Gaara?"
"Yea. He was the one who brought her here last night." Suigetsu blinked.
"I swear she told me that she just called you and came over..."
Suigetsu shook his head."Nooo...she and Gaara looked for you all over town. Dude, you should have seen her face, though. Gaara said she was really worried, too."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. "...I was just...too stressed out yesterday."
"Cuz of Karin, right?"
Sasuke winced a bit at the sound of her name. "Don't even mention her, please."
Suigetsu just grinned and resumed to eating his apple.
Sasuke stared down at the coffee table. He had to go apologize to Sakura for making her worry so much...and he almost forgot.
...he had to go talk things out with Karin.
"Bye, hun. Are you coming back after school?" Sakura's mom hugged her.
"No. I need to go back and see if Sasuke's ok. I just missed you guys so I came over to visit." Sakura hugged her mom and then her dad.
"Make sure you take good care of yourself. I heard you're getting exhausted lately because of both company work and school work. Take it easy, ok?" Her dad scolded.
"Yea, dad. I'll be ok." Sakura smile reassuringly and then went out the door. "Love you!" She grinned at them before running over to Gaara's car. He came over to pick her up for school.
"Ok, let's go." Sakura replied as she closed the car door.
Gaara started the car and drove away from her house. "...um, so...I'm kinda curious." He suddenly stated. Sakura blinked. "About what?"
"Sasuke...he apologized to you, right?"
Sakura nodded. "He said sorry alot. And he said he'd do anything to make it up to me, so I'm giving him three tasks. The first one was to go make up with Karin."
Gaara glanced at her like she was crazy. "Sakura, you're supposed to be happy that she got found out. Now you're asking him to go back to her?" He shook his head.
"I am happy that she got found out. I'm glad Sasuke knows the truth now...I just want him to talk with her because I want things to be cleared up. I just don't like seeing him hurt like that. And I don't want him to go back to her...honestly..." She paused, hesitating to say it. "...I want him to stay with me..."
Gaara found himself gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. He knew he had to start letting go of the feelings. He had to let her go, because since she realized her feelings, there was no way that she'll just fall out of love with Sasuke. He had to face reality and accept the facts.
...It was just harder than he thought it would be.
Sasuke ended up changing into Suigetsu's clothes. He didn't know how'd he explain that he got drunk to his parents.
"...alright. I'm gonna go over to Karin's place."
Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. "I thought you were mad at her?"
"...I am...but I promised to do anything to make it up to Sakura. And Sakura wanted me to clear things up with Karin, so I'm doing it." Sasuke explained as he finished buttoning up his shirt.
"Oho, for Sakura?" Suigetsu smirked.
Sasuke glared at Suigetsu's joking expression. "I did a lot that hurt her, ok? So I'm just making up for it."
"Yea. Buuuut, you know...you could just stop making excuses and say that you like her."
Sasuke stayed quiet and averted his eyes down.
Suigetsu was taken by surprise and a grin slowly spread across his face. "Oh. So you do like her? You're not denying it this time?"
Sasuke just let out a slow sigh and then walked past him back to the couch. "I won't deny it anymore." He simply stated. "Keys." He reached his hand to Suigetsu and Suigestu pulled out his keys from his pocket.
Sasuke grabbed it and then turned around, going out the door.
Suigetsu just stood there, kinda in shock. "Wooooow. Gaara must have it hard right now, then."
Sasuke took a deep breath as he drove to Karin's place. It would be hard to face her, but...he knew he needed to talk with her. Not just for Sakura, but for himself, too.
He just hoped he'd stay calm enough to not just blow up in Karin's face. He wanted to ask her so many things, he wanted to insult her in so many ways and he wanted to know why, above all, why she didn't just trust him.
When he finally arrived at her house, he slowly got out of the car and walked to the front door. He stood quietly for a few minutes before hesitantly knocking on the door.
No one answered.
Sasuke sighed and knocked again, this time, louder. He took a step back when the door creaked open.
Karin swung the door open and to her surprise, she saw Sasuke standing there. Her gaze immediately turned to a glare. "...what. I though you didn't want to see me anymore?" She scoffed at him.
Sasuke clenched his hands into fists. "I just wanted to talk." He tried to maintain as calm as possible...but he knew because of Karin's temper, they would eventually start yelling at each other in just a few minutes.
"About what? About me? About us? I've already told you that I did the things I did only to try to save our relationship."
"The things you did were wrong. Did you ever stop and think about the consequences?" Sasuke ended up glaring back at her.
"You know what, stop putting all the blame on me, ok? If your stupid parents hadn't made you marry that stupid girl, and if your stupid friends weren't all on your side, none of this would've happened!"
Sasuke couldn't believe this. She just insulted his parents, Sakura, and his friends all in one sentence. And how could she say the blame wasn't on her, when it obviously was all her own fault? "...the one you should be calling stupid, is yourself, Karin." He hissed.
"Tch. Did you honestly think that I would just stand there and do nothing while you're falling for that girl? Do you have any idea how hurt, how scared I was to know that I was losing you to her? You and I have been together for so long, and yet, it only takes a mere two months for you to start developing feelings for her. Did you honestly think I would seriously just fucking let you go when you were mine from the start?"
Sasuke's eyes met hers, and he knew Sakura was right. Karin was really just...afraid. "Karin. Why didn't you just trust me?"
Karin cursed at herself for letting her emotions take her over. Tears were glistening at the corner of her eyes and she just just shook her head at him. "You expect me to trust you? You expect me to believe your pathetic words? You keep telling me that you still love me, that you have absolutely no feelings for her, but all of that is just bullshit. So how do you expect me to trust you when you couldn't even tell me the truth about your own feelings?"
Sasuke averted his gaze down. Karin was actually right about that. He had Sakura in his thoughts even when he was around Karin. "...I'm sorry..." He muttered quietly.
Karin narrowed her eyes, wondering if she heard wrong. "What?"
"I'm sorry." Sasuke repeated. It didn't feel right that he was apologizing to her when she was the cause of all this drama, but he knew it was partially his fault for making her feel like this. "...I...I do like Sakura." He admitted to her. He might as well tell her now.
Karin just let out a distressed sigh. She knew it all along, but hearing that personally coming from him...it really hurt. "So what? You just came to admit to me that this whole time, I was right? If I was right all along, what makes you think you can just put all the blame on me, huh?" She wiped away the tears that were dying to fall from the corner of her eyes.
"Still." Sasuke gazed back at her. "Even if it was partially my fault, too, it doesn't excuse the fact that you would go as far as cheating. Even if I found out that I liked Sakura earlier, I wouldn't go behind your back and cheat on you with her. I would never-,"
"Just shut up." Karin interrupted. "We're over so what does it matter anymore? But just let me tell you this..." She glared hatefully at him. "I will do whatever it takes to make sure she pays for taking you away from me." Karin menaced and turned to go back inside.
Sasuke immediately grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Don't you dare hurt Sakura, anymore!"
"What will you do, huh? You don't have the guts to hurt me! You can't make me stop! I know you Sasuke, and I know that even if you hate me right now, you still don't have the courage to threaten me and I am not scared of you." She tried to jerked her arm away harshly.
"If you hurt Sakura again, then that just proves you never really loved me!" Sasuke kept his grip on her.
"Loved you? What do you think is the reason why I did all those things! It was because I love you and I didn't want to lose you!" Karin yelled at him.
"Damn it, Karin, I never intended for this happen either!" Sasuke fought back. "I never expected that I'd fall for Sakura, but it just happened, ok? But it doesn't mean that I never loved you either...you're the most important person to me and I truly want to make you happy, but I..." He paused and let out a sigh.
Slowly, he finally let go of her wrist. "...feelings change, Karin. I'm sorry that I hurt you like that. Our time together, it really meant so much to me, and I was ready to spend my life with you. But knowing you lied to me, how can I ever trust you again?"
Karin just stayed quiet. She averted her eyes down to her hand and looked at the ring on her finger. They were done...and she knew it. Thinking about it, even if she destroyed his happiness with Sakura, it won't make him come back to her. And getting rid of Sakura, it won't benefit anything.
Sasuke's eyes widened slightly when he saw her take off the ring.
"...fine. Then everything between us, I want to erase it all. I don't want to remember." Karin held the ring on her palm and reached to him. "If you take this back, we're really done. If you put it back on my finger, I promise..." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "...I promise, I'll do my best to make up for everything I've done to hurt you and everyone else...but you have to stay with me. We'll still get married."
Sasuke stared at the ring in her hand. Was she serious? Sakura suddenly appeared in his mind, at that moment...between Karin and Sakura...he knew he had to choose one.
Slowly, he reached for the ring and grabbed it.
Karin's hopes went up when he also grabbed her hand. But her happiness slowly died down when he didn't bother to put the ring on.
Sasuke brought her hand up and placed a gentle kiss on it. "...I love you. I really did."
And when he looked at her with his regretful eyes, she already knew what his answer was.
"...but I don't want to lose Sakura. I want to stay with her." Sasuke finished and gently let go of her hand.
Karin took a step back and her lips quivered. "We're done, then..." She whispered. "Bye, Sasuke." Karin muttered before she turned around, went in the house, and shut the door.
Sasuke stood there silently and stared at the spot where she was standing. It was official...he and Karin were no longer dating, they were no longer engaged.
They were just now...strangers.
He wiped away two tears that were in the corner of his eyes. Knowing that all the memories they've had, all the moments they've shared, were going to be gone...it hurt.
...He really, really, did love her.
Sakura was back at the Uchiha mansion, pacing back and forth with Sasuke's phone in her hand. Without his phone with him, she didn't even know if he was still at Suigetsu's place or not.
And his parents were busy at work, so she couldn't possibly make them worry about more things.
"Ugh...Sasuke, where are you?" Sakura groaned. She was getting really worried. She suspected that he would be home after she was done with school, but he was still gone.
Sakura walked out of the living room and went to the front door. She scanned her thumb and the doors opened. She stepped outside and prayed, hoped, that Sasuke would just magically appear somewhere in front of her. She was getting too worried and paranoid right now.
She hung her head down and let out a deep sigh. She knew she had placed herself in a difficult situation...the marriage was ending in a few weeks, and she was in love with him. She knew very well this would end up in just another heartbreak. '...it doesn't matter...in the remaining time we have together, I'll make sure that I do whatever I can to make him happy.' She thought.
Her head jerked up when she suddenly heard a car driving in. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that it was just a taxi...but she gasped when she saw Sasuke coming out.
Sasuke paid the taxi driver and the taxi drove away. Sasuke walked towards her, but he didn't look up so he didn't know she was there.
"...Sasuke..." Sakura called his name softly.
Sasuke looked up in surprise and saw her. "...Sakura..."
They just stood there, staring at each other for what seemed like forever. Sasuke then cleared his throat and averted his eyes down. "...I...went to talk with Karin."
"Just now?"
Sasuke nodded.
"Did everything go ok?" Sakura asked cautiously.
He didn't answer her. He just took a few steps to her until they were close enough. Then he opened his palm to show her Karin's ring. "...we officially broke up. This is her ring. She said that, if I took the ring back, it meant we're done. If I put back on her finger, she'll make it up to me and we'll still get married."
"You took it back? If she'll make it up to you, then why-,"
"Sakura, it was literally the same thing as choosing between you and her. If I took the ring, I chose you, and if I put it back on her finger, it meant I chose her."
Sakura blushed at his statement. That meant...he chose her instead of Karin.
"I can't be with Karin anymore, knowing that she destroyed all the trust I had in her. There's nothing she can do to make it up to me and I can't marry someone that I can't trust. And...I didn't want to risk losing you, too."
"...but...are you going to be ok...?" Sakura looked at him worriedly. His eyes were glistening...she didn't know what to do if he cried right now. She's never seen him cry before.
But he didn't. Sasuke forced a faint smile at her and nodded. "She's the past now. Everything...everything's just a memory now..." He muttered.
Silence once again filled the air.
Sakura stared at the ring in his hand and then at him. Her heart fluttered when her eyes met with his. Boldly, she took a step so that they were even closer.
"...you said you'd do anything to make it up to me, right? Would you do a task right now?" She asked quietly.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Right now? It was a weird moment to do a task right now, but if she wanted him to do it...he'll do it. He nodded at her.
Sakura swallowed. "Task two..." She muttered. She almost felt like backing away, but she knew if she didn't tell him to do it now, she'll lose her chance.
"Task two..." She repeated. "...kiss me."
Sasuke was a bit taken back by her request.
Seeing how he just had a surprise expression, nervousness quickly took her over and she averted her eyes. "You...you said you would do anything, so...so your second task is to-,"
She didn't get to finish as Sasuke dropped Karin's ring onto the floor, cupped her cheeks and brought her face up towards him.
Sakura's heart thumped furiously when his lips pressed against hers. She fluttered her eyes closed and shyly, she kissed him back.
Sasuke broke apart, but he quickly leaned in again, kissing her with more affection. Right now, he just wanted to show her that she meant so much to him. He was in love with her...and he didn't care if it violated the conditions of their fake marriage.
Just being with her, that was all that mattered, and honestly...he wouldn't mind it if the marriage was real.
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Next chapter coming up :)