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Chapter 12 - His Weakness

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There is one sound Sasuke hates more than anything, and no, it is not Naruto's yelling in the morning (although it is second in line.) This sound isn't that intolerable. But it does something to his heart he cannot comprehend, and that's what he truly hates.

It's Sakura's crying.

And right now, even though he feels disoriented and admittedly a little scared of what happened, of the black marks and losing control, the only thing he wants is to put an end to Sakura's pain. With her little nose engulfed in the middle of his back, his shirt muffles some of her cryings. But they still resonate through his entire being, and he cannot take it anymore.

"Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Mole kneels at their sides and extends a tentative hand towards the girl. But instead of easing her, the action provokes another wave of sobs.

Sasuke sends him a glare before putting his hands on top of the girl's clenching ones. "Sakura." The softness of his tone surprises him, so does the gentle way in which he unravels Sakura's arms from his torso. The last thing he wants is to hurt her or startle her, and this feeling is so foreign to him. It's so different from the hate that was consuming him only minutes ago.

He feels her breathing ease a bit, and she sits back on her heels. This new position enables him to move again, and he hurries to face her, too curious. He needs to know if he's the reason behind those tears because everything is such a blur; he cannot recall the events precisely. Perhaps he hurt her? Scared her?

He opens his mouth, but the words get stuck in his throat when he takes in her appearance. She has swollen eyes, but not because of the continuous tears flowing out of them. Someone's been hitting her. A purple bruise is emerging on the right side of her jaw, where a big bump has already altered her pretty features. Sasuke's eyes trail further down, and a blush creeps to his face when he realizes she's not wearing her shirt anymore. But his embarrassment morphs into concern when he locates a big gash starting from her shoulder and ending in the middle of her collarbone. The blood oozing out of it is soaking the bindings around her torso, giving them a crimson hue, just like the tip of her short hair sticking in it. Sasuke's eyes widen. Wait, short hair? It looks like something has roughly cut half of her long pink locks in a shoulder-length fashion. The other half, however, is still cascading down her side.

Under his intense stare, Sakura fidgets and brings one of her legs up to her chest, circling her arms around her shin. The action attracts Sasuke's attention to her other leg. There's a hole in her shorts, and trails of blood are dripping down her thigh.

"Oh my god, Sakura-chan," Mole's voice breaks the heavy silence, startling both teenagers. "What happened?"

The girl shakes her head, sending her uneven hair flying left and right, then hides her face behind her folded knee. But, as if remembering something important, she jerks her head up to meet his eyes. "How are you feeling, Sasuke-kun?"

This question should catch him off guard, but it doesn't. Count on Sakura to always think of others first. And maybe that's why he's never been able to hate her. Because he is selfish, and to have someone caring, for once, is refreshing.

At the feeling of Mole's penetrating gaze on him, he dodges the question. "Sakura. Are you, are you crying because of me? Did I scare you? Hu-hurt you?" He internally winces when he hears himself stutter. Uchiha Sasuke never stutters.

"What? Sasuke-kun, no!" Her hand latches onto his, and she intertwines their fingers. "Although," she falters for a second. "I admit I was scared for you..."

He stares at their linked hands. Usually, he would break the contact instantly. But today, he notices he needs it more than he would have thought possible. So instead, he closes his fingers around the back of Sakura's hand and glances up to meet her frown of concern. "For me?"

Sakura closes her eyes and nods but doesn't elaborate further. In front of her exhausted state, he drops it.

"I don't know the complete story," Mole says after a minute. "And Sasuke, I don't want to pry into your life, but I've seen those marks before. My best friend has them too. I know what they mean, who you encountered in this forest. We have to find your sensei. Quick."

"I agree," Sakura breaths out, trying to stand up.

"Wait, no!" Mole and Sasuke react simultaneously. The Anbu brushes Sakura's shoulder to stop her from trying, while Sasuke tightens his grip around her hand. She recoils from Mole's touch, startled, then sends the Anbu an apologetic look and sits back in front of them.

"We have to look at those wounds first, Sakura-chan," the man says softly. "Can I..." He leans forward tentatively. "Is it okay if I do that?"

Sakura bites her lower lip and nods. In front of her hesitation, Sasuke gives her hand a gentle squeeze. Why did he do that? He cannot say. But to see her shoulders relax is all it takes for Sasuke to forget the awkwardness behind the gesture.

While Mole takes care of Sakura's many wounds, Sasuke thinks back to their encounter with Orochimaru. In the end, was he, or was he not worthy of the Uchiha blood? He brings a hand to his sore neck. And why giving him this? So much power, so much darkness. What is Sasuke supposed to do with it? The answer to that is simple: to kill his brother, of course. But why would this unknown man want to help him with his revenge? What would he gain from it?

Then, the black-haired boy glances at his injured teammate. The brightness of her green eyes shines even more when brimming with tears.

Sasuke is now convinced that the pink-haired girl is hiding something. A part of him wants to confront her about it, right here, right now, but she's been so quiet that he finds himself more concerned with every passing second. It can wait, he decides at last.

"Alright," Mole interrupts Sasuke's train of thoughts when he gets up and walks towards the unconscious teenager lying a few feet away. "We should leave before his team comes back with reinforcement."

Sasuke lets go of Sakura's hand and gets up to face the Anbu. "Leave? What about Kakashi and Naruto?"

"Kakashi has his ninken, and Sakura is full of blood. They can easily track us to a safer spot. I'll do anything to protect you, kid," he adds in a whisper. "But Sakura-chan needs to rest. She cannot fight right now. Her body and mind are broken. And," he adds as an afterthought, "you shouldn't use your chakra until we know more about the seal."

That last part irritates Sasuke to no end. Orochimaru gave him power. Why shouldn't he be allowed to use it, or at least try it? His hands close in tight fists without him noticing. With that power, he could ensure Sakura's safety and finally achieve his primary goal. His jaw clenches at the thought of Itachi, and he turns a death glare to Mole. And who's that guy, anyway? Who is he to think he has a word to say on what Sasuke can or cannot do?

A jolt of pain irrupts at the base of his neck, and Sasuke suddenly folds in two with a hand clasping his new seal.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura latches onto him and swats his hand away from his neck. A cold, gentle touch replaces his warm one, and he closes his eyes in relief. Maybe Mole's right, he thinks, glancing down at the pink-haired girl in front of him.

"I'm fine, Sakura." Her searching eyes meet his, and he doesn't know what she sees in them, but she relaxes a bit upon meeting his stare. "We have to leave," he says, a hand settling on her shoulder. "You just rest. I'll carry you."

Before she can protest, Sasuke turns and kneels in front of her to offer his back. He hears Sakura fidget and is about to send her an annoyed look when her tiny hands wrap around his neck, and he feels her lean against him. He places his hands under her thighs, careful to avoid her injury. Then, without a word, Sasuke proceeds towards the exit. However, before landing a foot outside, Sasuke's eyes zoom in on a disturbing sight: a piece of human flesh bathing in a pool of blood and a handful of pink hair.

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Sakura fell asleep minutes after climbing on Sasuke's back. Her clasped hands loosened. So he had to bend forward to ensure she wouldn't fall back. Her breathing finally evened out after a while, and it was curiously soothing.

Now, Sasuke is expecting her awakening. Mole brought them to a dark cave to rest in a semblance of peace and left not long after scouting the area. This means the two teenagers are now alone for the first time since Orochimaru's fight. And the reserved Uchiha as an unusual amount of things he wants to talk about.

While he waits, he lights up a fire, then stares at the flames in deep thoughts, munching over all the information he's gathered about Haruno Sakura: her shifting personality, the nosebleeds, the memory loss, the changing colour of her eyes, and the weird sentences she let slip here and there, like this one:

"If I act strange, tell Kakashi. It means I am lost again."

He whispers those words, again and again, trying to unravel the meaning behind them. Too engrossed in this arduous task, Sasuke doesn't notice the pinkette stirring up, never feels her eyes on him.

"Lost again," he says in a breath. "What does that even mean?"

"Sasuke-kun?" He jerks his head up upon hearing Sakura's voice to notice she's no longer lying on the opposite side of the cave. Instead, she's crawling her way towards the fire, careful not to hit her head on the ceiling. "Who are you talking to?"

He shakes his head, then brings his hands to the hem of his shirt. "Here, I'll give you something to wear until we return to camp."

Sasuke lifts his shirt, but a touch on his elbow refrains him from taking it off. He drops his arms and casts the pinkette a puzzled look. Sakura's face is as red as a tomato, and her eyes are focused on something above his left elbow. She clears her throat before speaking.

"Please, don't do this. Then you would be the one half-naked."

"Sakura, this is definitely not the same." He feels his own skin burn out of embarrassment.

"I don't see the difference. At least, I have bindings acting as a shirt of some sort."

"It is hardly hiding anything." She crosses her arms in front of her chest at his comment. "Please, just take it."

"No! Please, Sasuke-kun, I can't believe I am saying this, but keep your shirt on, for god's sake!"

His eyes slightly widen. "Why are you so stubborn? Can't you see I'm doing the right thing?"

"No, Sasuke-kun, you're not!" Sakura takes a big inhale and turns to lock eyes with him. When she speaks again, her tone is softer. "Would you do the same for Naruto?"

He frowns. "Of course not."

"Exactly my point."

"You mean, exactly my point."

She shakes her head with a chuckle. "Maybe." Her hand on his elbow trails down and tugs on the shirt still clutched in his hands, so it can fall down. "But I don't want you to treat me differently because I'm a girl, Sasuke-kun. I want you to look at me as an equal." She wavers for a second, the blush on her cheeks darkening. "Plus," she adds as an afterthought, "seeing a guy shirtless might do nothing to you, but it does to me. Just like seeing a girl without a shirt does something to you. That's because we're attracted to the opposite sex. So, really, you taking off your shirt doesn't change much about the situation."

Sasuke's heartbeat quickens at Sakura's statement, and he turns to poke at the fire. "If you say so," he whispers, his face flushed.

An awkward silence follows their conversation. Sakura takes a spot beside him, and Sasuke has to fight hard to keep his eyes glued to the dancing flames. All this talk about attraction made him uncomfortable.

"So," Sakura trails off. He peeks at her from the corner of his eye. She's glancing at her wounds with a grimace.

"Sakura." She snaps her head up upon hearing her name. "We need to talk."

"Okay..." She turns to face him fully, with a concerned frown on her face.

"If I act strange, tell Kakashi. It means I am lost again." Her eyes widen, but she stays silent. "You've been acting strange ever since our first day as a team, to be honest. What was Orochimaru saying the other day? What are you hiding from us?"

Sakura turns her gaze to the flames with a deepening frown. "You told me you didn't notice things about me. That we weren't that close. I'm not really hiding anything from you. You made clear that you didn't care, anyway."

To say her answer surprised Sasuke would be an understatement. He leans forward, hands clasped on his knees. "So there is something?"

"Kakashi asked me to not tell you guys. But frankly, I didn't think you deserved it, anyway. No one noticed. Can you believe this? What does that say about me? About the people surrounding me? About my family, my friends, my team?" She turns her gaze to him, and he's taking aback by the tears pouring out of them. "It hurts, Sasuke-kun. To always be dismissed, to not being taken seriously, just because I'm a civilian or a girl and somewhat pretty - or at least to Naruto, I am. And with what happened with Zaku..."

"Who's Zaku?" He interrupts her. She stares at him, nibbling at her bottom lip, then averts her eyes before giving him an answer.

"The guy you broke both arms."

"Oh..." Sasuke eyes her from head to toe, a lump forming in his throat. "What," he gulps, then goes on. "What happened?"

"I'd prefer not to talk about that."

Sasuke nods reluctantly. He has a good idea of what happened, anyway. And just the thought of it makes his blood boil. He never considered the threat it posed to be a Kunoichi, never thought men were really doing it. Why would someone do something like that? He vaguely remembers a class at the Academy where Iruka broached the subject while talking about power trips. But power, Sasuke realizes abruptly, is exactly what he's looking for…

"To answer your first question," Sakura resumes, getting Sasuke out of his spiralling thoughts. "There's also someone else inside of me."

"What?"

"Her name is Nezumi Hana. And until Kakashi-sensei gets her out of my body, we are sharing my life. Five days each. Congratulations," she adds with a sour face. "You're the second person to notice."

"But, that's," he shakes his head with a frown. "That's unfair. Why is she there to begin with? Just push her out."

"I don't know how to do that," she answers, irritated. "She locks me in a cell, Sasuke-kun. And I'm alone for five days, in the dark, with nothing. I don't even know where she's going when I'm in charge. I don't know how to put her there or push her out. I'm fucking helpless."

The silence stretches as information sinks in. Sasuke glances at his teammate, expecting to still see tears streaming down her face. However, he is met with a hard stare and a squared jaw.

"So," he says, tentatively. "You're going through this every five days?"

She gives him one stiff nod. "I've never felt so lonely in my entire life."

A movement of her hands attracts his gaze, and his eyes settle on her tight fists. Without realizing it, he extends his own hand and grabs her wrist. "I've noticed you doing this a few times now. You're hurting yourself."

He flips her palms up, and she opens her fingers slowly. "I don't know why I'm doing this," she says, brushing the rosy scars. "It helps me anchor myself in the present moment, I guess."

"Don't do it." He says, gripping her hands. "Don't you have enough wounds already to anchor yourself?"

She chuckles dryly. "I guess you're right. Plus, I have the most hideous hair. Ino would be happy to see this." A fond smile finds its way to her lips. Sasuke stares at it for a second too long, making Sakura tilt her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," he says, diverting his gaze. "Your hair isn't hideous, just uneven." He frowns at his own words. That was completely unnecessary. But upon hearing her laugh, Sasuke's opinion abruptly changes. At least he's cheering her up a bit. It's better than making her cry.

"Sasuke-kun?" She tucks a lock of her short hair behind her ear. "Would you mind cutting the longer locks?"

His eyes widen. "I don't think I'm qualified for that."

"Well, at least, just to even it out, you know. I'll ask Ino to fix it when I come back."

"I thought you hated each other," he states bluntly.

She snorts. "Yeah, just like you hate Naruto."

He sighs and grabs a kunai. "Yes, your point?"

She shakes her head with a playful smile. "Whatever, Sasuke-kun. Whatever."

Sasuke ignores the teasing and sits behind the girl, a frown emerging on his face. He never thought he would one day cut his teammate's hair. That's not on the list of things a shinobi is supposed to do. But he guesses it could be worse: it could be Naruto's. He shivers at that thought and runs a shaky hand through Sakura's pink locks. He thinks he sees goosebumps rising on her skin and smirks. Some things will never change.

And as he cuts the long strands of hair, the image of the piece of human flesh entangled in the pink strings comes rushing back.

"Sakura," he whispers. "You're not helpless. You're the most capable kunoichi I've ever met."