Chapter 9

Monday came around and for the location in which she lived, the roads were not well maintained and properly cared for when it came to colder weather. So, as Sakura walked outside, she noticed that the roads were still a bit icy in spots, but knew that the way she was driving, that there would be more to deal with. Sighing, early in the morning she found herself outside defrosting her car while using an ice scraper to clean off the windshield. Just as she was finished and heading to the back window, she saw a pale hand reach around her and grab her red and black ice scraper, pulling it out of her hands. Turning, Sakura came face-to-face with Sasuke.

"I can help you know." He smirked as he walked around her and began to clean off her back window.

"I appreciate it, Sasuke." Sakura gave him a warm smile as she got inside to see if the heater had kicked on enough and was no longer blowing cold air at them. Sure enough, the air was warm, which meant it was nearly good to go. Getting back out, she watched him finish up before handing it back to her. Placing it on the floor behind her seat, they both got inside.

"You want me to drive?" Sasuke offered, looking over at her before getting fully situated.

"Oh, I can do it. Thank you." She gave him a smile as he nodded and put his seatbelt on. The ride there was stressful, but Sakura hoped that she had kept herself together enough to not make it as noticeable. They chatted about random things and in the half hour it usually took her a little more, but they made it without any issues. They walked into a warehouse, Sakura knowing where she was going as Sasuke looked around. She grabbed a large, clear bag, a few people already there as they had just opened one to look through and find the envelopes and packages meant for them. She did the same after opening the second one, grabbing a plastic box to load the items into as a third one was opened, contents spilling out over the dark wood tables that were lined up side by side, four in total. It felt like a lifetime but had to have been a mere ten minutes before she was loading up her car and they took off. Her route was the longest in terms of distance, but the shortest when it came to time.

The further west they went, the worse the roads got, which made her uncomfortable. However, she took a deep breath and continued on until they reached a place where that all changed. The entire parking lot was a sheet of ice and she found herself stuck in the middle; her car unable to move. She bit her bottom lip, hitting the gas and feeling her car attempt to move, but nothing happened. Sasuke put his hand on hers until she turned to look at him, his face unemotional, but she had a feeling he was remaining calm to ease her.

"Get out. Let me do this. I'll get your car out."

Sakura nodded and got out of the car, managing to not slip on the icy ground as she took several steps back. Her engine revved and she watched the tires rolling on the ice, remaining in place. She then watched as he reversed her car and managed to make it move slightly, then a little more a second later. Her eyes widened as he moved it from the area it had been stuck in and then she watched her car move forward, moving over the section and onto an area with less ice. Relief enveloped her entire being and she brought her hands to her mouth in excitement. She watched him get out and make his way to her, holding her hand out.

"I'm driving the rest of the time. Just tell me where I'm going." He stated, as he walked her across the icy landscape toward her car.

"Alright." Came her response as he walked her to her car, opening the door for her and waiting for her to get in.

He seemed confident behind the wheel of her car, not bothered by the roads or the fact that she was gripping the door a bit harder than necessary. In fact, a moment before he reached out to grab her hand, holding onto it, his thumb rubbing circles around the back of her hand lazily. Even with that gesture, his face was utterly impassive, eyes focused on the road and nothing giving away anything he was thinking or feeling. She was used to this with their video chats, but seeing the person felt different and in a positive way. They came to her next stop, and he got out with her, entering the building as he did so. This was the place that Sakura felt immediate loathing as the woman she had to greet was rude to her. The woman, Yayoi, was already giving a slight glare until her brown eyes fell on Sasuke and immediately her entire demeanor changed.

Sakura watched as the woman pushed some hair behind her own ear, running her hands over her skirt to straighten it out before making her way over, eyes solely focused on the man to Sakura's left. She felt a brow twitch in annoyance as the woman stood just a short distance from Sasuke, her face holding a kind, warm smile as she held her hand out. However, Sasuke didn't return the gesture, looking at her with a rather bored expression on his face that the woman could sense as her smile faltered slightly.

"How can I help you?" Yayoi's voice was low, almost in a sultry way that pissed Sakura off even further.

"We came to deliver your documents." Sasuke said, his voice coming across as bored as his own expression did.

"Oh, are you her new co-worker?" Yayoi asked, her smile getting brighter.

"No, I'm her boyfriend. I'm helping her drive due to the road conditions." He then turned, holding his hand out to take the documents from her, his eyes entirely on Sakura before he turned and thrust them into the woman's hand. "Is there anything we need to take back?"

"No." Yayoi's voice now held malice.

"Have a good day, then." Sasuke turned, grasped Sakura's hand and led her out of the building, both hearing the woman stomp off in annoyance.

"I think you pissed her off." Sakura giggled, looking up at Sasuke to see his face soften into an amusing expression.

"I'm aware and I don't really care. She knew what she was doing and it's her fault she came to the conclusion she did and embarrassed herself." Sasuke shrugged as he waited for Sakura to get in the car before closing her door once more.

She watched him get in and start the car, heading toward their final stop for the day before they could head home. Usually, actions like that were to impress the girl, to show loyalty to earn their trust. Something about him made her realize that his loyalty and actions were genuine and not as a means to merely impress her. He had always been the kind to say what he thought and mean what he said. For every time she called herself weak, he gave her a list of reasons why she was strong. For every instant she felt the words of others hit home, he gave her many more words that brought back her confidence. And in each thing, he said, they held more meaning than to merely appease her, but rather that he believed them to be facts.

Sakura wondered what Sasuke saw when he looked her way, just how much of a different person she was in his mind than she was in her own. She had a very strong feeling that the person they saw when looking at her was vastly different and that brought peace to her world. She had always been made to feel less than when it came to friends and family, her prominent features were brought to the surface as something to feel ashamed of. Her past was dark, filled with so much that she would never wish it on someone else. Yet, while she saw someone so broken and messed up, she felt that Sasuke saw someone beautiful and put together.

"What are you thinking about?" His voice caught her off guard and she slightly jumped, looking over at him with wide eyes. "Must have been something big to get that sort of reaction out of you."

"Well, I was just thinking about myself, I guess? How I don't think highly of myself."

"Did you allow that woman to make you feel inferior to her?" Sasuke asked, glancing over at her with a brow raised.

"Not necessarily, but that I've spent my entire life being made to feel like I should be. I've been told I'm useless, that I'm annoying, or simply not good enough." Sakura gripped her pants, the fabric bunching into her palm. "Whenever I felt like something good was happening, there was always someone else there to ruin it."

"Ah. Well, if you allow others to dictate to you who you are, then you will feel that their words hold meaning. What you have to realize is that their mentality about the world will reflect how they choose to see you, not who you are. If someone feels you have it easier than they do, they will allow their negative feelings to project insecurities and mindset onto you. To them, you are in their way of happiness and bringing you down will fix that. Those who matter will never make you feel that way, but they will never give you any reason to doubt who you are. You've gone through a lot, Sakura, and I'm only aware of a tiny portion of your past. Yet, you give yourself so little praise for having gone through it to be as strong and as passionate about life as you are. The only person who can truly know who you are is you. You have had the longest relationship with yourself than anyone else ever will. You know your true thoughts about any and every situation. What someone else says about you will always hold a reflection of themselves. Those who are truly happy will never feel the need to bring others down. And those who have gone through a lot and know that pain will work hard to help others to never experience that.

"There will always be those who allow their life to allow them to become bitter. You didn't do that, Sakura. You became the person who strives to help others to avoid the pain you've felt. That's true strength. There is nothing useless about that. All you need to do is learn to talk to yourself the way you do for a friend, as you deserve as much support as anyone else."

Sakura couldn't stop the tears that flowed down her face at his words. She tried wiping them away quickly, but no matter how hard she tried, they kept coming. She felt the car stop and looked over in time to feel his arms wrap around her, holding her against him. That caused her to let loose every pent up feeling she had as she clung to him, his words hitting hard. She knew he was right, and she had been much harder on herself than she should have. It had been a long time since strong emotions overtook her to the point, she couldn't control it. These feelings were not just from what he said, but years of turmoil. It took a moment for her to calm down, leaning away from him to sit back in her seat, using the sleeves of her jacket to remove the tears that had streaked down her face.

"I'm sorry, I hate to cry." She mumbled out, feeling her cheeks heat up.

"I don't mind. It was something you needed to hear." Sasuke shrugged, putting the car back into drive and continuing on. "I'm sorry you hate to cry, though."

"Was always made to feel that crying was merely a weakness and I have always hated doing it, especially in front of others." Her response was low, but she knew he heard it.

"You don't have to think that with me. Be yourself and don't worry about anything you do, making me see you differently. Unless you do something that's honestly horrible, you're not going to change my mind." He grabbed her left hand, holding it up to her face so that the ring that sat on it twinkled slightly. "I meant what I said."

"Well, I suppose this is goodnight." Sakura stated, standing in the doorway of Sasuke's current bedroom, watching as he straightened out the black blanket that her mother had purchased for him. "Anything you need before I head out?"

"Come here for a moment." Sasuke didn't look up at her, but his voice carried enough that she heard it.

Sakura made her way to him, her feet just barely making a noise as she did so, the distance between them closing ever so slowly. He finally looked up at her, his dark eyes looking at her before a smirk showed itself on his lips. She continued to look at him, realizing she would always wonder how someone like him would look her way, but chastised herself for it. He had spent a moment of their day telling her to be kinder to herself and she needed to work on that. Whatever he saw in her was valuable and he had decided that it was worth his time and commitment. The ring on her finger suddenly had a small amount of weight, making itself known to her that he had promised himself to her during their time hours apart to their time just a few inches from each other. She moved her thumb to graze against the warm metal as she reminded herself that just earlier in the day, he had done the very same thing.

"Do you feel better?" He asked and she felt her expression soften slightly. "I'll take that as a yes."

"I am. I think I needed some tough love." Sakura giggled. "Thank you for that, by the way."

He closed the distance between them, looking down at her before he poked her forehead, amusement evident on his face when her hand came up to touch the spot. Before she had time to register anything further, he had bent down and in that instant his lips were on her own. The hand that had been touching her forehead a moment after his hand was now around the back of his neck, holding him to her. He shifted them slightly until the back of her legs hit the bed and she tumbled backwards, watching him follow before they kissed once more. His hand trailed up her side and under her shirt, his warm hand creating a heated path along the way. Their make out session didn't last long before he leaned back, breathing hard, removing his hand from right under her breast. His breathing was labored, and his eyes kept darting around the room as he caught his breath.

"Are you okay?" Sakura asked, looking at him worriedly, wondering if he regretted what he was doing with her.

"Yeah, but if we continue…" He trailed off, running a hand through his hair before looking down at her. "I don't want to just immediately take advantage of you."

"You know, I wouldn't mind if you decided to." Sakura blushed at her own bold statement.

"How about we give it a few days, then discuss it. Because I want to make sure you are comfortable doing this, Sakura."

So, a few hours later, she found herself in her bed, staring up at the same white ceiling she had for most of her life. Sakura knew that she wanted to be with Sasuke, though it would be her first time and she worried she wouldn't be good at it. Sighing, she rolled over, looking toward the window in her room, curtains covering the outside world from her view. She was thankful for him as he knew her past and she knew he took that into consideration, but Sakura had decided a long time ago that he was the one for her, so she decided to make sure he knew that, too. It felt rushed in a way, but they had been talking for a while, dating for several months. The only thing missing from most of their relationship was the physical aspects. They had already made up for most of that during his time here. Biting her bottom lip, she was excited about the prospect of what was to come for the two of them.

A/N: I do want to give a heads up that with my stories, I do warn at the beginning of the chapter about most things that go beyond PG-13 in case anyone has concerns or issues with that, even though this story is rated M. This allows for those of you who prefer to skip it to know when it is coming so you can avoid it. I do try to mark the area so that you can find where it ends, and the story starts back up. I hope this helps as this will be coming up soon for the two of them! And we will get Sasuke back to being more in character but felt it would be meaningful if he established with Sakura how he viewed her.