Disclaimer/Authoresses note: If I owned Naruto, I'd be rich, and I wouldn't be sitting here typing like a lame-ass. :D

Anyways, sorry for the late update! I've been having major writing problems. oo; And I'm really just kinda lazy... I decided to throw in more Lee x Sakura, though it was totally unintended for the fic…but I love the pairing just too much. And…there's Sasuke x Naruto fluff in this, too, as a sort of relief from the rape. 0.o This chapter is so sappy, you'll be blowing your nose with a fooking pancake!

Warning: Lots of mushy girl whining.

Chapter Five!: To take advantage of the emotions of a damsel in distress, or to not take advantage of the emotions of a damsel in distress!

Sakura nearly tripped on her own feet as she took a step back, holding a balled up fist to her chin. Her lips were lightly parted, her skin was paler than how it should have been, and her pupils were contracted almost insanely. She was at a complete loss of words! She nearly suspected it all to be just one terrible dream - but it couldn't have been. It was too real. Though Sakura's heart was broken, she remained simply looking terrified as oppose to drowning in despair. She'd simply have to pick up the pieces of her broken heart and put it back together, and move on. But how could she...? How could Sakura get over Sasuke, the boy she loved even before she was anywhere near qualified to wear her badge of adulthood? Before she knew how much love really meant...? (A/N: Like, O, MG! Sakura...is such...A GIRL! :0)

Sasuke bit his lip lightly, then glanced towards Naruto - who looked as if he'd just been slapped with a large tuna-fish across his face. He seemed to be stuck that way, so Sasuke turned back to Sakura to just flatly explain himself - to tell the truth, but noticed she was gone. Had she run away? Sasuke frowned a bit and pulled out of Naruto at last, who only winced a bit. He quickly zipped up his pants, thereafter swiping a kunai from the holster on his thigh and cut the ropes that held Naruto's legs up.

Naruto grunted, dazed from so much happening at once (even before Sakura had burst in out of no where), and slid the ropes off his legs. He looked up for his pants and boxers, which were thrown at his face that moment. Naruto frowned at Sasuke, who smirked lightly, and Naruto dressed himself; zipping up his jacket after rolling down his shirt. "...Are you just going to let her go?" Naruto asked after somewhat of an awkward silence. Sasuke replied easily. "What else can I do? If I explain myself, it won't make anything better. She's on her own." Naruto blinked. "Are you serious...?" A shrug lazily rolled off of Sasuke's shoulders, and sighed in somewhat irritance. "Of course I am. She's just another one of those girls chasing me. It's funny that every single one of them think they have a chance...they need to learn." Jeez. When Sasuke put it like that, he made it sound like he did all of that to Naruto just to prove something to the girls. Naruto crossed his arms.

"How can you be like that?"

"Like what...?"

"Cold," Naruto responded, gritting his teeth lightly. "That wasn't just any girl -- that was Sakura!"

Sasuke frowned at Naruto, who appeared to be the hugest idiot in the world to him. "...What do you mean?" Did Naruto still have that stupid thing for her? Naruto stomped his foot, pointing quite accusingly to Sasuke. "She's our teammate! And whether you want to admit it or not, she's our friend!" "Naruto, there's nothing we can do." "There has to be SOMETHING!!" Sasuke smirked lightly, turning his back to Naruto. "She'll be fine..." "What makes you so sure?" "Did you see what she was holding?" Naruto blinked, lowering his hand by his side. "She had a daffodil. A flower she'd gotten me at the hospital...but I'm out now. She may be on her way to see a friend or something at the hospital." He opened the door and paused. "She's in good hands; they'll take care of her for us. Let's go." Naruto sighed, paused, and then followed with a light nod. "Hai..." How could he be so sure?!

Some time passed, and Sakura made it to Lee's place. She tried to stop crying by the time she got to his door-step, but that just didn't seem to work. She rubbed her red, puffy eyes and sniffled. She couldn't go back home, because she was scared. What if Naruto and Sasuke..? The disgust came back, and Sakura shivered felt like nearly vomiting, which was gross, but it was a nice substitute for the pain she was feeling in her heart. As she stood, she stared at her feet for awhile.

It was almost as if her entire meaning of existence vanished right before her eyes. Haruno Sakura. Sasuke's ever adoring fan girl - the one who she believed was the most likely to win his heart. Only to find out that the handsome boy was gay, and had sex with, of all people, NARUTO, in HER frickin' tool-shed. Which was just degrading. Worst of all, it was just like everything she hated about the novel - which her mind was trying to avoid currently. She could barely gather the nerve to knock on Lee's door.

She knew he'd gotten out of the hospital, and was still probably not very mobile…but she just wanted to see him. She'd plucked a flower on the way over, before…certain incidents, and decided she'd give it to Lee while he was conscious. Strangely, though in the mess she was in, she wanted to see Lee NOW, of all people - as planned, but she didn't plan seeing…that. Of coarse, she pushed all of this to the back of her mind, and, with a trembling, weak fist, knocked on Lee's door, biting her lip while stifling tears.

Not too long after, Lee came to the door, curiously poking his head out to see who had come to visit. First, his expression brightened to see Sakura, the most darling of beings in Konoha, and then grew worried to see her current air. Her eyes were puffy and shared the same hue of red as did her cheeks, and tears were welt up in her eyes. And - lightly held between delicate, trembling fingers of each hand, was a daffodil. Lee blinked at the flower briefly, but quickly returned his attention to Sakura.

"Na, Sakura-san! Are you alright?" He asked worriedly, opening the door a bit more. Sakura noticed, idly, Lee was staggering - seeing as he was on crutches, and his left arm was in a sling. She shook her head, and the tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn't speak, afraid she'd have a break-down. Lee helped her in, which made Sakura feel a little guilty since he was handicapped, but no less sat on the futon she was guided too. She sniffled and wiped her eyes again, making a light whimpering sound as her teeth released her lip.

Lee flopped down beside Sakura, leaning towards her worriedly as he smoothed some of her bangs from her forehead. "Sakura-san, what's wrong..?" She shook her head and held up a hand, showing that she needed a minute to gather her brains, and handed Lee the daffodil. "I-I was… on my w-way o-o-over…t-to…to give y-you this…a-and…to j-j-just v-visit…" Lee told Sakura to hold on for just a moment, and he got up to get her some water, shortly after he gently took the daffodil from her fingers.

Lee frowned. What on Earth happened that unnerved the poor kunoichi so much? He glanced down at the daffodil, blinking again. He'd gotten a flower just like it, while he was in the hospital… Lee felt his cheeks heat lightly. Had that been Sakura's flower? He was wondering who gave it to him. Lee snapped his thoughts back to his current state of affairs and brought the water to Sakura, who took it with trembling hands and sipped from it, tears streaming down her cheeks as she silently cried. Lee bit his lower lip lightly. Lee didn't want to see Sakura cry.. He already had once, and he wanted that to be the only time. "Daijoubu ka?" He finally spoke. Sakura nodded, and then began to try to explain herself through choking on sobs, stuttering, and embarrassment.

Naruto grumbled. "Naa, Sasuke…where are we going?" Sasuke shrugged nonchalantly, stopping in his tracks. "No where, I suppose. It doesn't matter where we wind up." Naruto blinked and canted his head, eyes slanting closed as his arms were folded behind his head. "Eh? And why is that?" Sasuke smirked lightly. "We don't need any certain area for this." Naruto got that bad feeling in the pit of his gut, and his eyes opened wide. "…'This'? What is 'this'?" Sasuke chuckled. "Not what you think," he responded simply. He was still smirking, but it seemed to be of a sort of fondness - which left Naruto even more confused than before. "…Then what?" How annoying, Naruto thought, suspiciously glaring at Sasuke.

After Sakura was able to explain herself a few tissues later, Lee just sat next to her, unsure of how to react and - simply blinked, red faced. Sakura looked at her knees, also blushing, and sniffled. Tears were still in her eyes, but they stopped falling. Lee reacted finally in a shudder. Over-active imaginations could be bad sometimes. Lee turned to Sakura, then hesitantly pulled her into a hug. Sakura was somewhat shocked, and let out a mild gasp and blinked, resting her finger-tips just above Lee's collar bone. Lee frowned. It wasn't as if Sasuke and Naruto did that on purpose…well, meant for Sakura to see it anyways. He lightly touched his finger tips to the back of her head with his right hand. "I'm really sorry you had to see that," he started. Sakura simply listened. "I understand that you like Sasuke-kun very much…and that…well, I'm just sorry…" He didn't want to get into the details, and Sakura knew why. Lee knew exactly how much it would hurt him if he were caught in a similar incident with her. Sakura felt a little guilty.

"I understand it may hurt very much…" Lee didn't want to sound too harsh, but he felt as if he needed to say what was on his mind. "…but if you really loved Sasuke, you would just let him go with Naruto. I know you don't want that, but you should want him to be happy." Sakura was silent, and her hands balled into fists, whispering a soft 'I understand'.

Lee didn't want to hug her. Well, he did, but he didn't mean to. He just…felt really bad. It almost hurt him to hear that, to see Sakura cry, and virtually be useless to her at that moment.

Technically, on the other hand, this meant Sakura was available. Lee was afraid he may have done this as a sort of subconscious reaction to Sasuke's being unavailable not just to Sakura, but to females in general. But that couldn't be it -- that would be cruel! To take advantage of Sakura's wounded heart and try to repair it by getting her to like him while she's so fragile! He would never-! Although…it was sort of tempting.

He shook his head, mentally of coarse, and released Sakura. He wasn't going to do that. As strange as it sounded, he loved Sakura too much to do that, even though if he did, he might have a chance at having her be his girl.