TW: Drugs
Author's note: This is a fictional story. Please do not believe any of the information written below, it's purely for entertainment purposes.
If you or anyone you know struggles with addiction there is help.
USA: SAMHSA National Hotline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
Offers free and confidential information for individuals or families facing substance abuse. (Spanish and English)
Color Theory
Mondrian
There was no tragic backstory, in fact; Sakura came from a loving home, filled with two active parents. They weren't wealthy but they always provided for everything she needed. She wasn't ugly either, sure she looked a little off with her rose colored hair and jade eyes but it was easy to tone down with a neutral wardrobe or complimenting colors. If anything, others found it attractive as it complimented her features nicely.
There would be dates, boys with sexy abs, clumsy fingers but an eager attitude to please. Love notes, written with carefully picked out words, filled with hope. They complimented her patience, tenderness, intelligence, and carefully thought of a world by her side. Sakura tried to reciprocate, regurgitated the same phrases that made her heart flutter, worked hard alongside them, and carefully hid her secret. In the end none of them stuck.
Sakura remembers the first time she saw the words that described her; undergrad third year. The class had a cheesy title: "Your Brain on Drugs." She sat in the third row, next to the aisle, she still had long hair that clung to the wool of her black jacket. She turned the page to start writing, taking notes on the new slide on the screen and she paused as she read the slide titled, "Functioning Addicts" . The concept of it was simple: someone who abused drugs but was able to perform at a functioning level.
The shoe fit, she was able to finish her two degrees, not with an outstanding GPA but definitely above average. Landed herself a very cozy job in research, reviewing data, supervising lab equipment. She didn't schedule her usage but if she was stressed or going out to drink with her co-workers or friends she'd use. No one was getting hurt by this habit, she knew how to dose, what to mix, what not to mix. Like when she used ecstasy, as much as she wanted to dance in the club on a hot summer day she couldn't, because it was easier for her body to overheat. When she went out to drink, she'd avoid too many fizzy drinks to avoid getting too drunk too fast.
While she did hide it, she was open about it to those who mattered.
"I can't believe I let you drag me into your drug pickups again, fivehead." Ino grumbled for the millionth time while her and Sakura waited for her dealer.
"You can stay home next time, that's fine." Sakura quipped back, watching her rearview mirror for any signs of Suigetsu.
It didn't take long for her door to open and a white haired man sat in her back seat.
"Ladies, how can I help you today."
Sakura turned back, moving a stray piece of her bangs away from her eyes, "The usual, nothing new."
"You sure? I got some new stuff this week and I think you'll like it-" Suigetsu starts
Sakura shakes her head before he can finish his sentence, "I'm sure. How much do I owe you?"
"Fifteen hundred"
"Hold up- Last month it was eleven-hundred are you trying to rip us off?" Ino chirps in with a slightly angry tone and red face to match.
"Fuck off- Supplies are limited. But if you want I'm sure we can figure out a way to lower the price" Suigetsu replies suggestively.
Sakura eyes him up and down as he leans back into her car seat before placing a stack of cash in her middle console for him to take.
"We'll pass. Now, knock it off, both of you."
Suigetsu smirks, "Always nice doing business with you."
He leaves shortly after, it doesn't take long for the red to fade off of Ino's ears as her anger dissipates. She quickly smacks Sakura on the shoulder.
"I cannot believe you even considered that, this is exactly why I can't leave you alone."
Sakura smiles warmly, "I didn't but I can't insult him. His product is clean."
"How did you even find this sleazebag?"
"Karin"
Ino nods in understanding. His personality suddenly made a lot of sense, Karin was tough. She was definitely the only one out of them who could handle that type of guy.
Sakura suggests inviting a few friends to Ino's condo after they drop off her supply at home. It's the perfect way to celebrate the weekend ending and it's been a hot minute since she saw her friends. That plan doesn't last for long however, since some guy Ino knows is apparently having a small party Hinata, and Kiba seem to find themselves at.
Kiba- She had just met him a few weeks ago at a party and if there was anyone Sakura ever wanted to like it was him. He had brown hair with matching eyes that would compliment her perfectly, the red tattoos on his face wouldn't clash with her hair and eyes. She was sure he had a crush on her too, he held her hand on the walk back home from their last party and even asked for her number. Unfortunately, her phone was dead and she was too high to remember her phone number. Just the possibility of seeing him again was enough for her to agree to meet Ino's other friends but not before taking a bar on the way out.
"What's the name of your friend that's having the party, again?" Sakura asks on the ride to the party.
"Naruto, we work together." Ino replies as she drags her finger under Sakura's eyes to wipe off her excess makeup.
"Really? What does he do?"
"He's a cop or detective, something like that." Ino says as she's getting off of the car.
"A cop?!" Sakura yells catching up to Ino.
"Ugh, Sakura. Seriously?" Ino replies, rolling her eyes, understanding what Sakura's worry is about. She wants to tell her to throw it away but she knows Sakura better than that. Even though she doesn't see Sakura quickly down a small white pill. Ino knows what she's gotten herself in for the night.
It's bright, the lights are bright, the colors are loud, and Sakura's dilated pupils don't help, so its bright and she puts on a pair of sunglasses. Ino immediately notices, gripping her hand tightly as they weave about a crowd. Until they reach an empty couch pressed up against a wall, the window is open and if Sakura turns around she can look at the city lights shining in the distance.
"Don't- actually- stay here, ok Sakura?" Ino's tempted to ask her not to go too far, but she doesn't want to put any ideas in her head. Sakura nods at Ino's request.
It doesn't take long for a man to approach her. Sakura raises her eyebrow as she watches him move with heavy steps, a side effect of the alcohol. His blond hair looks slightly orange in the room.
"Hey, cool glasses." His cheery voice says. He quickly sits next to her and her glasses are plucked off her face and worn on his. "Woah, it's so dark, how can you see with these. Are you blind or something."
Sakura giggles, xanax always makes her feel like this, more carefree, more relaxed, more acceptable of others. "No, they just look cool."
He smiles brightly, "Does that mean I look cool? Who are you anyways? I don't think I've seen you around."
"The coolest" She exclaims, extending her hand. "I'm Sakura, Ino's friend."
"Naruto." He says as his warm hand engulfs hers. "Let me get us something to drink, beer?"
He leaves before Sakura has a chance to say no. It doesn't take long for him to return, although he doesn't come back alone. He comes with a guy slightly taller than him with dark hair. The lights make it hard for Sakura to tell who it is but it looks like Kiba for a second and her chest tightens at the thought of finally being able to see him.
"Sakura I'm back!" He exclaims as he sits next to her again, his side is pressed up against her and the warmth feels welcomed. Sakura could almost close her eyes and fall asleep if he wasn't shoving a bottle in her hand. While exclaiming something to the man in front of them.
It's all too clear now that he's not Kiba but rather some guy that also works with Naruto. 'Great another cop' He's not all that bad looking either, he's got hair as dark as midnight, and matching eyes definitely her type. Naruto is attractive as well, like his friend he's muscular, but he's tanner, blonder, with eyes bluer than the summer sky. If anything he's a little too colorful for her. His hands definitely feel nice as they rub her shoulder looking for a response for a question she hasn't heard.
"What do you say?" He repeats. Sakura instinctively nods, it's a mistake she knows, but Naruto smiles and leaves. His friend stares at her awkwardly, mentally battling whether to stay or go. He should probably pick the latter, Sakura doesn't really want to talk. She just wants to enjoy the breeze that hits her hand by the window, but he doesn't leave. Even with all of her inhibitions she can feel his stare so she decides to break their silence.
"What?"
"I didn't say anything" The dark haired man counters.
Sakura hummed, adjusting herself on the couch before patting the empty spot beside her. He obliges shortly after.
"I didn't catch your name earlier, Naruto's mouth was running a mile an hour. He does that when he's drunk." Sasuke says.
"Likewise-Sakura, yours?" She repeats her eyes focused on the crowd around her.
The dark haired man leans, so the warmth of his breath tickles her ear, "Sasuke."
They don't talk after that. Instead Sakura does what she enjoys best, observing, analyzing how everyone is interacting in front of her. Sure her sober self would see a guy trying to shoot his shot with the cute girl in purple but now she sees the way their bodies press together, she can almost feel the heat they emit all the way across the room. Every experience feels different when she's inhibited.
In the end Naruto doesn't come back.
Instead Ino comes to take her home soon after.
...
...
...
She doesn't see them for weeks after her first meeting. Not like if she saw them she could remember what had happened on said night.
That's the thing about drugs, while you feel good in the moment but an (un)forunate consequence is short term memory loss. It does depend on what drugs you're using of course and beg the question: Why use them if you don't remember? But that's not interially true, Sakura doesn't remember who she met, what she said, but she does remember the way the lights danced in the skyline outside of the window. The warmth of the body pressed up against her, the feel of her muscles as she allowed the couch to support her. It was one of the rare moments she felt at peace, carefree, and comfortable in her own skin.
When she does see them again while she's walking back from her lunch break it's very evident to her that they know who she is. The blonde haired man's face breaks out into a smile the moment his eyes meet hers and while awkward this isn't exactly the first time she's found herself in a situation like this. So she returns her smile and waves hoping that'll be enough. It's not; soon he's walking over to her with energetic strides with a dark haired man in tow.
"Sakura- great to see you again!" The blonde exclaims adjusting his jacket to cover his badge.
'Great a fucking cop, you really did it this time' Sakura mentally scolds herself.
"Hello! What are you guys doing here" Sakura cheerfully replies after carefully picking out her words. It's an uncomfortable situation and them standing...no, hovering over her doesn't make her feel any better.
"You know the usual, catching the bad guy." Naruto's cheerful tone responds. It's met with Sasuke's annoyed silence and a raise of Sakura's eyebrow.
"Just going to interview a witness." Sasuke clarifies
Sakura sees this as her way out. "Oh, don't let me keep you guys. My lunch break is just about over so I need to head back."
She waves and starts walking, only they're walking in the same direction as her now. She can see them from her peripheral vision.
"We have time. Let us walk you back, it's a dangerous area." Naruto says scratching the back of his head.
"Maybe at night, but I assure you this area's pretty safe. This has been my daily routine for some time now." Sakura replies.
"Common Sakura lets us be gentlemen. Our mom's raised us better than that."
Sakura nods. "Fine."
The walk isn't long but Naruto makes sure he fills every minute of it with his voice. He told her about how surprised he was that she knew Ino. Through his bits and pieces she realizes that they met at a party and that Naruto took her glasses and lost them. She reassured him it wasn't a big deal, as lost her glasses often enough to bulk buy cheap spares. Once they make it to the door of her building she stops to say goodbye again.
"Give me your phone." Sasuke asks, catching Sakura off guard.
"What? Why?"
"Naruto's right, this is a dangerous area. I was just going to add our numbers in case you ever need help."
Sakura complies, after Naruto reassures her it's a good idea. It also seemed like the best way to get them out of her hair. At this point she was willing to do anything to get them to leave. Suigetsu worked here too and the last thing she needed was her drug dealer to have a reason to not sell to her.
"You know, Sasuke. This is the first time I've ever seen you ask for a girl's number and I think I may know why you're single now." Naruto says as they walk back.
"Don't be a dumbass, didn't you hear her? She commutes this route frequently, the pharmaceutical sector has some of the highest rates of drug deals?"
"Yeah sure whatever." Naruto grumbled
"Knock it off before I tell your girlfriend you're out here flirting with other girls."
Naruto doesn't mention Sakura again.
Out of all the places she expected to see Sasuke, an art exhibit wasn't one of them.
Ino's new boyfriend, Sai, had taken it upon himself to bring them to as many openings as he could in efforts to "culture" them. So now Sakura's Saturday nights were usually spent in acid filled dreams with black cocktail dresses.
She had a routine for these events, Ino, Sai, and she would take one 'quick' walk through the exhibit to get an idea of what the vibe of the place was; this wouldn't take more than thirty minutes. Then they'd make their way back to the lounge where she'd bring out her little friend, find herself a companion for the night, enjoy a drink or two and start to make her way through the exhibit again.
Which is exactly what she was doing as she looked into C's seductive dark eyes only to glance up and see a pair of familiar eyes. She had a good twenty minutes of sobriety left so it'd be easier to get this inevitable conversation out of the way. So she flashed her teeth at him and waved the minute his eyes met hers.
"I should go say 'Hi'" Sakura says, squeezing C's hand, "You can come along if you'd like."
C nods following her, his hand lightly touching her lower back. "Work friends?" He asks.
"Ino's friends, the blonde I was with." Sakura says as she approaches Sasuke.
"Fancy seeing you here, Sasuke. How are you? Where's Naruto?" Sakura says as she stretches out her hand for him to shake.
"Ah, Sakura." Sasuke shakes her hand. "Naruto's gone for the weekend. He went to visit his parents." He pauses to look at the blonde man beside her. Eyeing the arm that was loosely around her waist.
"Here with your boyfriend?" Sasuke asks.
Sakura look's at C a bit unsure of how to describe him because the reality of 'I just met him a few hours ago' sounds a bit insane but thankfully C swoops in. Offering his spare arm for Sasuke to shake.
"No, not quite. Dr. Shi, we got set up on a blind date." His grip around her tightens and Sakura feels a tingle go up her spine. Sakura rationalizes its the drugs that are making her feel like that.
"Are you here alone?" She asks Sasuke,
Right on cue, a familiar head of red walks out in an elegant lavender suit.
"You could say that we are both in the same situation." Sasuke replies as Karin stands next to him.
"Karin?!" Sakura says pulling her into a hug "It's so nice to see you."
It is soon discovered that Karin not only happens to be Naruto's cousin but also Sakura's coworker. They talk about what a small world it is. Sakura promises Karin to tell her everything that happens on Monday. After Karin, none too subtle says that C is hot, the whole thing strikes Sakura as a bit odd not because C isn't hot, he is even if he lacks the monochromatic colorings she likes, but because she thought Karin was dating Suigetsu. The whole exchange takes Sakura a bit longer than she'd like but soon enough she's chatting nonsensically with C as they walk around the exhibit. The modern approach of the art bleeds beautifully in Sakura's eyes.
It turns out C is a lot more Sakura's type than she would have imagined. She didn't realize he was a doctor until after he spoke with Sasuke. He's stoic but funny, grabs Sakura in a way that makes her skin light up, and is considerate of her. Even when she does weird things due to the effects of the drugs she's on. Just a few moments ago the letters of an artist plaque started to slide off as she read it. She started to pick them up with her fingers trying to piece together what they said. Rather than asking what she was doing he kindly read them to her and smiled as she blushed in embarrassment at being caught.
"This is why I'm only allowed to use excel." Sakura jokes, pressing her hand on his chest to feel the steady thump of his heart.
"Mhm, I'm sure that's the only reason" He replies in a joking tone that causes her to laugh.
C excuses himself for a drink leaving Sakura on a bench. She checks her phone for any messages from Ino or Sai. Her mind wandered to Sasuke who was out here walking around with Karin enjoying the same work. She wondered if he pushed his hair behind his eyes when he talked to Karin or if he left it covering his eye all the time like he's in a punk band. Or if he was in place of C would he have laughed at the same jokes C did. She opens her phone and debates texting him but decides to forgo it as the words keep slipping off of her phone if she stares for too long. It was a silly thought anyways, she can't go after every guy she finds attractive.
When C comes back his eyes start to slide down his face as he talks to her. As does his nose, mouth, and hair. Sakura leans closer to him and closes her eyes so she can focus on his tone, his words, and the way he breathes.
"Sorry" She says, knowing he might find this odd. For all she knows if the walls hadn't cornered him off he might be leaning away from her.
"Sakura, I know. I'm like you." he replies in a reassuring tone cupping her face with his hand.
She feels her mind spin as his lips blush against hers ever so slightly before a cough interrupts them.
"Sasuke is it?" She hears C's deep voice reply.
Sakura opens her eyes looking at the way light reflects off of Sasuke's suit and the way his mouth has slipped all the way down to his chest as he begins to talk.
"Sakura sent me a text and I was worried something had happened." Sasuke says holding his phone up for them to see.
'Soske hws te ngts i arin' it reads. Sakura leans back and pinches the bridge of her nose.
"Sorry, it must have sent when I tossed my phone in my bag" She feels C's hand on her forearm reassuring her.
There is a bit of awkward silence as they sit there, Sakura's looking at Sasuke's eyes, that are now on his shoulders they slide down to his nipples, as she waits for him to leave, but he doesn't.
"Are you drunk?" He asks after a few seconds earning a raised eyebrow from C.
"No." She huffs "I'm fine"
A pause.
"I don't believe you and I can't leave you with a stranger knowing you may be intoxicated."
At this point Sakura wants nothing more than to sink into the bench and disappear. Others might be staring and the last thing she wants is to draw endless attention to herself.
"Sasuke, I'm not drunk." She repeats.
"With all due respect, I've been with Sakura all evening and she hasn't acted inebriated in any way. Her story sounds plausible." C says.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions and judging by their agitated tones they're walking down that path.
"Why don't you and Karin accompany us, so you can see we aren't up to any trouble?" Sakura suggests.
Sasuke sighs.
"Fine, but just so you know. Sakura my eyes are up here" He says pointing to the top of his head. Sakura shoots C a confused look shrugging her shoulders.
Suddenly her night isn't too fun. Sure Karin's hair looks like fire and when they step outside for some drinks, she wants to stretch her hands out to capture some of its warmth. But she can tell Sasuke's uncomfortable. She can feel his stare as she mentally drowns herself in the fountain in front of her.
Suddenly an arm pulls her up, "Lets go you've been staring at this water for the past thirty minutes" Sasuke says in an aggressive tone. Sakura lets out a yelp that catches Karin's attention and she's promptly next to her arguing with Sasuke.
"Let her go!" She exclaims.
"Look she's clearly not alright, I don't trust that guy she's with."
"Sasuke, ever since you saw them you've been following them around all night. You think I haven't noticed. Let her go!" Karin's pissed. Suddenly Sakura feels like shit. Her mind starts to spin, how could she be the cause of this to Karin. Sweet, beautiful Karin who's never hurt her.
When Sasuke lets her go, Karin's quickly by her side asking her if she's ok.
"Karin, I'm so sorry." She cries, engulfing her into a hug.
Karin rubs soft circles onto her back, "You have nothing to apologize for. You were acting fine, I don't know what the deal is with him. I should never never let that stupid idiot cousin of mine talk me into tonight."
"Lets go look for Ino" Sakura suggests. Sasuke looks annoyed but Karin's outburst shut him up so he follows quietly behind the two. They're by the bar when they spot C, followed by Ino and Sai. Sakura immediately walks up to Ino.
"So funny story, I was on a date with my hot boyfriend when your man came over to tell me. Sasuke, out of all people, was harassing you two, did I get anything wrong? " Ino said with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. Sasuke refused to even look at her, giving her all of the answers she needs to know.
Ino rolls her eyes and grabs Sakura's arm. "Let's go, Sakura. Before I call Kakashi. Karin, will you be ok?"
"Yeah of course." Karin says with a smirk as she adjusted her glasses and with that the group left.
C walked alongside Sakura and all of the euphoria she once felt being around him was now replaced by shame. When she looked at him the waves of her high suddenly reminded her of instability, of depression, lack of security.
"I think we should go home. Sakura." Ino said
Sakura nodded and turned to C, "I'm so sorry tonight ended like this. It doesn't usually-" She began to ramble only for C's hands to intertwine with her own.
"Don't apologize. I had fun, do you want to exchange numbers? Maybe meet up for coffee or something." C said
Sakura could feel her face warm with her blush. "Um, I- yes!"
...
...
...
She doesn't see Sasuke or Naruto for some time after that nor does she want to think of either of them after what had happened at the art exhibit. So for now she sees C, she sees him in her favorite lunch spot, at the park, in his apartment, in the cafeteria of the hospital he works at, in her dreams.
Now she sits in C's living room, her thighs sore from last night's activities. She watches C roll up a joint for them to smoke, this is the first time she's been with someone who's as functional of a drug user as she is. It would be romantic if they both didn't know it was a sickness.
C passes her the joint and lays on the couch they're seated on, head on her bare thighs, his hair feels soft and Sakura can't help but to play with it.
"What was your first time using like?" He asks with his eyes closed as he enjoys her caresses. He's often told her that her voice soothes him. She believes him because he constantly asks her questions that take a while to answer.
"Hmm" Sakura starts to shift through her memories thinking about it, "I guess if I think about it, it started with rubber cement. I always liked the way it smelled and wondered what if something felt as good as that smelled." She looked down to C's dark eyes before they both burst out in laughter.
"Rubber cement?" He repeated in between laughter to which Sakura nodded. She then went on to recount how when she was sixteen one of her classmate's parents was deathly sick. She'd go visit Aya often to keep her mind off of things and in between visits her mom passed away.
"We were cleaning her room, Aya got to pick out what she wanted to keep. It was super depressing. Anyways Aya opened this drawer full of pills and when she left I took a bottle of oxycodone."
Sakura remembers her parents were workaholics, and it wasn't unusual for them to work through holidays. In the moment it felt bad, eating all those dinners alone, spending all that time by herself but in the end those shifts are what put her through college. She looks down to see C staring at her with a sympathetic expression.,
"I hated how it felt the first time, I thought I was going to die. My chest tightened" Sakura grabs C's chest and rests it on her bare chest right under her heart, "But then my heart beat relaxed and all of the worries I didn't even know I had faded... Now it's your turn to tell me."
She giggles as C feeds her a cheese puff before he begins to recount his story. Unlike her, he started a lot later in life. Even though Sakura doesn't always notice that they have a ten year age gap, it does pop up when she least expects it. She doesn't know how to feel when his addiction story begins at her age, twenty five.
"So I get assigned a new mentor, A and this guy is hard. Year before me, two of his students died by suicide."
C talks about Darui, the one other person in his program who was actually managing somehow. Through the sleepless nights, through the stress, Darui was always alert and ready to work. C spent weeks trying to piece together what was happening until one day in the bathroom he heard it.
"..it just sounded like heavy breathing but through the crack of the stall I could see him cleaning his nose"
He's sitting up now, facing Sakura, moving his arms as he recounts the memory.
"Did you confront him there?" She asks
C shakes his head, "No, I did a few weeks later at a bar. I demanded he share it with me or I'd report him. Best high I ever felt."
Sakura doesn't know how she ends up under him, placing soft kisses on her face.
"Do you think this is meant to last?" Sakura asks as he touches her. Her question makes him stop and think. His expression is sad, they both know the answer but don't really want to say it.
"I think so." His words surprise her. Sakura wants to ask why but he answers her question before she even has the chance to ask it.
"Because I love you"
She feels it in her heart too, "I love you too" However, "...but we're sick. People like us, we can't get better around each other. One day this won't be enough."
"Then let's cherish this as long as it lasts ok." He tells her in his ever reassuring tone before he begins to press kisses against her once again.
There was a time, where Sakura thought that her addiction didn't hurt anyone, not even herself. She got good grades in college, got a job that not only she enjoyed but paid more than the bills. But the more she thought about it the more holes she saw in her accompaniments, she did get good grades in college but she didn't try her best. There were times where the stress was too bad and the only thing that could comfort her was a bottle of alcohol or pills. Her job did pay well but even her college advisor said she had more potential than that. She didn't want to put in the extra time to even apply to grad school or medical school because it cut into her drug time. She never bothered to furnish her condo because why waste money on luxuries like a dining table or a couch, when you can use that money on some bars of xanax?
Afterall, when she inevitably fails, why further burden her parents with her belongings.
...
...
...
The next time she sees Sasuke he's in her office out of all places. He's sitting on her seat, looking at the work on her desk. Reading the small post-it reminders she has all over her screen. Some read: Finish Lab 3B file, Send Ino apology flowers, Remind Sai about Ino's party, Ino's birthday, C's office number.
It scares her and for a second she thinks she might scream there is an intruder.
"Sasuke!" She says clutching the white lab coat around her. Closing the door behind her so no one can hear them talk "You scared me!"
"Busy?" He asks in his usual stoic tone. Sakura thinks about the expired lab equipment she needs to go check and retag but he's here now. Something doesn't feel right so Sakura lies.
"Slow day actually, I can spare you some time, what's this about?" She says with a smile
"It's about C"
With that her heart shatters. Sasuke's words fall deaf on her ears but she can still understand him. C's had an overdose, at work, he survived, currently awake waiting to be moved to a rehabilitation center.
Six months into their relationship they had made each other's emergency contacts for situations like this. She knows she can't see him, she's read the studies, they've talked about this moment when they took their first hit of fentanyl together. She remembers the day like the anniversary of her own birth, she had never been happier.
Sakura leans against the door for support but her legs give out and soon she's just kneeling. Sasuke walks up to her and squats down until they are as close to eye level as they can be. He reaches over and wipes a stray tear from her cheek.
"I can take you to him if you'd like." He asks in an uncharastically soft tone.
Sakura shakes her head, now feeling a stream of tears escape her eyes. She cries softly as Sasuke helps her stand up and move to her chair.
"Did you know he was using?" He asks.
They all knew the crime wasn't using or being high, but rather the ownership of the drugs. They usually went hand-in-hand which was the root of Sakura's secrecy. Despite this she nods, a sob escaping her lips.
"Of course I knew" She also knew that C only used, like this, if something bad happened at work like a patient dying. Sasuke looks conflicted; he's giving her an expression she thinks she saw at the art museum the day she met C.
"I'm sure if you see him you'll feel some relief knowing he's ok." Sasuke says in an effort to console Sakura.
"No" Sakura cries, "Please take me home"
The drive to her condo is painfully quiet, the minute Sakura unlocks her door and steps in she asks him to leave.
There is nothing she can do, so with a heavy heart she slowly makes her way into her bed hoping, praying, believing that with time she will be ok. It takes a couple of minutes for her phone to start blowing up, mostly texts from Ino promising her she'll be there tomorrow morning at the latest. The last thing she sees that night before her tears drown herself to sleep is a text from Sasuke.
'Don't be afraid to reach out if you need anything'
Note: I'll be posing chapters anywhere from once a day to twice. This story is finished, I'm just trying to avoid a whole word dump. Enjoy!