Men of the Sea

Chapter 14

Sakura sat at the chair closest to Kisame's hospital bed. With her pathetic bandages and wrist brace, she stared at the wrecked demeanor of the kind Surfer. He smiled at her, but said nothing. The pink-haired woman wondered if he could say anything today. Sakura was told that Kisame wasn't able to string together words and phrases quite well yet. And when he did speak, it wasn't on a consistent basis.

'It's my fault'.

She smiled back at him. It was forced. "Kisame, I'm glad to see that you're…" her voice faltered.

Alive.

If the car had hit her, she would be gone.

Dead.

Kisame saved her.

'Why?'

She was just a fling. She had no importance to him.

Right?

"I don't know… What to say." She admitted slowly to him. "Then leave," a voice growled from across the room. It was Kisame's mother. Namika. She sat a short distance from them both within a chair close by the door. "Please," Sakura whispered. "Have some compassion for me."

"Compassion?" The woman's voice was filled with venom. "Compassion!?" Sakura watched as the dark-haired woman stood from her chair. It wasn't long till she was standing before her. "I don't know how long my son will be like this. And you only have a few scrapes and bruises! But please, tell me again to show some compassion." Sakura gathered herself to her feet. "I didn't ask for this. I didn't even know he was in Tokyo!" "He told me about you. He said he was in love with you."

Her words felt like fresh salt on an open exposed wound. Violent. Painful. "I didn't ask for him to save me." "But he did. He came here to see you and he managed to save you. At the cost of his own well-being. Even with knowing that you're engaged."

Sakura felt like the wind was knocked out of her. Her truth was exposed.

Her technical affair.

"He told me everything."

Her mouth felt dry as she said, "My Father told me of the engagement when I was fifteen years old. A decade later, and it has been disbanded. I'm not engaged any longer." This time the woman blinked at her, surprised. "I was thrown off seeing him. He didn't call me. He didn't contact me in any way. And one evening I'm walking in my hometown and there he is. This gorgeous man who I met in Australia. How would you react?!" Sakura felt her eyes sting with fresh hot tears.

"I don't know him. But I've thought about him plenty since my trip to Australia. I don't want to see him hurt. I would have happily taken the hit. Especially when the cost is this." She presented an un-hurt open hand towards Kisame. The woman, his mother, looked down. A bit of shame glimmered in her eyes.

"I just wanted to see him. I… I care about him. I'm sorry that I'm the reason he's hurt. I'm sorry." Sakura bowed forward as far as she could.

"I'm sorry."

For a moment, there was only silence.

Until there wasn't.

"S-Sakura."

It was the first time he'd said her name since the accident.

Both women turned turned towards the source of the voice. Dark long lashes were wet with tears. "Sakura. I'm ok." She chuckled. "Don't you dare down-play this, Kisame."

"Sakura."

"Kisame," she whimpered.

She walked closer to him and grabbed his hand. She wiped the wetness from the corners of his eyes. "I'm here." "Sakura," his eyes became tender. Smouldering.

There was recognition. And even now, desire. Though, not of lust. No. Lust would be too crude in this current state of being. Sakura saw desire of connection burning in his eyes.

His voice was unwavering and clear.

"I love you."

Sasuke's POV

Two men in uniform, a lawyer, and Sasuke were all fit into a small private room within the Rehab Center he was residing in. With his lawyer at his side, Sasuke sat across the two Police officers in an uncomfortable tacky pink armchair.

His arms were entwined in front of him and his infamous scowl was etched onto his perfect face. One of his legs was crossed over the other and bounced uncharacteristically with a pace of nervousness. "Uchiha-San, we ask that you comply with us," said the taller and obviously older officer. A sigh escaped Sasuke's mouth. "Look, I didn't know Karin was off her rocker, okay? Sure, we fucked a few times. But do you know me? I fuck a lot of people. I don't know much about her, so I can't imagine how I could be of help to your investigation."

"Uh-huh. We've heard of your reputation. Uchiha-San. And we've investigated Karin for the last week. Upon tracing her documents and finding her journal it has become clear that this isn't Karin's first time acting out to one of your 'girls'."

"Girls?"

'What is this guy talking about? What 'girls'? He has to be more specific!'

Ignoring Sasuke's question the eldest officer continued, "It's also become clear to us that you have a habit of keeping tabs on Sakura Haruno." "Well, I am a curious person." "Is it fair to assume that you two have been intimate?" "I've known Sakura since I was ten. She's not that kind of person. We've never had sex." His eye twitched in annoyance. He purposefully omitted the fact that he tried to sleep with her and was denied from his response.

"So why the interest of her whereabouts?"

"I am curious." "And what is that curiosity based on?" "We WERE engaged. Didn't Father tell you that? We were engaged and I was curious as to what she was doing." "Engagedl," said the younger officer slowly, his dark eyes narrowing. "Yet you were sleeping around?"

Aa, judgement.

Sasuke was used to that.

But considering that the two opposite of him could throw him in prision for being an "accesosory of attempt of murder", he couldn't help but feel the nervousness intensify within him. Negative judgement was bad. Even he could understand that much.

"We became engaged at age fifteen. I didn't want to be engaged to her but I couldn't, no, wouldn't deny my Father's wishes. She never complained about my habits. As long as we aren't married I didn't see the harm in my enjoying the company of other people."

"But you still wanted to know everything about her."

"Yes. As I said, I was curious."

"So you had your receptionist keep tabs on her?"

"Look, I know it's weird. But we all work in the same company. I didn't see the harm and asking Lee," "Karin," the older officer corrected, "Right, that's what I said. Anyway, I didn't see the harm of asking her to keep tabs on Sakura. Most of the time Sakura was working so Karin's reports weren't at all that interesting. But it didn't hurt to stay in the loop."

"Uh-huh," said the younger officer, obviously not understanding at all.

"You slept with Karin too, didn't you?" "Occasionally," Sasuke admitted. "Don't you think asking someone you're sleeping with to keep tabs on your fiance as a bit cruel? Karin must have been interested in you." "Aki," "Karin," the younger officer corrected this time, "Yea, I know her name, didn't know we were engaged. Not many people knew. We were to announce our engagement in a few years. Ask Father, if you don't believe me."

The older officer cleared his throat.

"Are you familiar with a Kisame Hoshigaki?"

Sasuke arched a brow. "Is that the guy that saved Sakura?" "Yes." "No. I am not. I am grateful to him though. Father said he saved Sakura. I heard that he's consequently suffering some awful injuries. Potentially for the rest of his life." "Indeed. Which made us wonder about the state of their relationship. Why go so far for Haruno-San? We've learned that Hoshigaki-San is a native Australian. He was simply visiting Tokyo. Though, he came here with only a one-way ticket." "Yea, so?" The younger officer moved to the edge of his seat, watching Sasuke closely.

"Hadn't Sakura-San recently made a business trip to Australia?" "Yea, she did. But she takes plenty of business trips. Are you trying to connect this foreigner with Sakura?"

"At the scene we recovered a cellular device. It was Haruno-San's." "Yes?" "Talking to Yamanaka-San we learned that it was the phone Haruno-San had misplaced in Australia. Curious how it was recovered at the scene of the crime, with Hoshigaki-San's coincidental appearance."

Sasuke said nothing. His furrowed brow began to rise upon his head, recognition filtered into his onyx eyes. "They met in Australia," he said slowly. "It is suspected. Though, not yet confirmed." "She must have seen him! She called me on Yamanaka's phone late one morning on the last day of her trip to say that she lost her phone…"

"Are you aware that Haruno-San bought a loft some months back?" "I vaguely remember hearing about it." "Could it be fair to assume that Haruno-San was in the process of leaving you?"

"No, she wouldn't. She wouldn't go against her Dad. She said it made him happy-"

Sasuke froze.

In the past, the one thing stopping Sakura leaving him was her Dad. But as Sasuke saw, Sakumo was near death. Had been so for months. Did Sakura buy the loft when he had fallen "ill"? Was the situation with Hoshigaki a full blown affair? Was she in the process of leaving him before their engagement disbanded?

"That Bitch!" As if to say, "Careful," his lawyer cleared his throat beside him. "If you were keeping tabs on her, how could you have not made the connection sooner?" "Karin isn't a fucking private eye! She's a receptionist! I'm not sending her to Australia to spy on Sakura! I was only curious of her ongoings! Which mostly consisted of work. But to know that she was with someone else!?"

"Does this information upset you, Uchiha-San?" "Fuck yea it does! The Bitch was cheating on me!" "And what of you? Didn't you say it was fine for you to sleep with all those women, even Karin?" "That's different. Sakura is better than that. She's better than me."

"But clearly you're upset?" said the younger officer.

Sakura scoffed, "Clearly".

"Enough to ask Karin to assault Sakura with her car?"

"Excuse me," said the lawyer.

Both officers ignored his lawyer's interjection. "You must have suspected Haruno-San was seeing other people. Is that why you encouraged Karin to attack her? After all, we discovered a few journal statements of Karin's where she wrote that you would ask for her to 'get rid of the girls' you would be intimate with in the past."

"I wouldn't ask her to hurt anyone! I would request for her to get the people that were in my apartment to leave!"

"But you were aware she would attack the females you were interacting with?" Asked the older officer.

"No!"

His lawyer stepped forward, all starch and crisp suit. "We're done here. My client has spoken to you and has helpfully answered all of your questions. Clearly you have the information that you need. Considering that he's at a Rehabilitation center and stressful situations are to be minimized, I am ending this. Now."

Sasuke's eyes were wide as he looked at his lawyer then at the officers. Karin hurt other girls? How many? What did she do?

He felt nauseated.

Sick.

But hadn't a part of him known?

There were many times he felt a strangeness emitting from Karin. She seemed off… But he figured it wasn't important. He didn't feel the need to worry. It was Karin. She was a strange girl but not dangerous.

Right?

But then… He gets a call from Father. Sakura is in the hospital. There's been an accident. And his receptionist is the culprit.

He wasn't aware of Karin's viciousness. Of Sakumo's condition. Of Sakura's "affair".

What else didn't he know?

His level of arrogance dropped and his concern of his remaining ignorance festered. He watched as the officers both tipped their dark felt hats to him and left the room. A puzzled and worried expression crept upon his paling features. His lawyer put a steady comforting hand on his slouched shoulder.

It burned.

"Don't worry, they can't pin this on you."

Did Sasuke even care if they did or not?

In a way he could have been egging Karin on for months. Was he somehow responsible for Sakura's predicament? For Hoshigaki's?

Was he guilty?