-Believe Me, It's True-
Summary: Sasuke has always hid his innermost feelings for as long as he can remember. But at age sixteen, he can't afford to hide those feelings anymore. But what if the one he loves hates him for past misunderstandings? SasuxSaku
Chapter Three: Missing Link
The sun shined gently above in the sky as a young male shinobi stirred in his bed. Even if he heard the rustling of the people outside, he remained in his bed and waited for the usual wake-up knock he would get from a female shinobi. Uchiha Sasuke blinked at the morning brightness and sighed. His 'wake-up' knock would never come, it never did in the past three years, but for some reason he waited for it. Even if it was pretty odd to wait for a wake-up call at 1:12 p.m.
He sighed again and remembered his old wake-up calls. He ran his hand through his raven hair and slowly got dressed. At age sixteen, Uchiha Sasuke became a bigger 'pretty boy'. He still had the same hair style and the same piercing stare. But his boyish looks left him long ago, leaving him with a handsome aura towards others, especially the females. Sasuke's physically appearance was enough to make an army of girls drooling and any male begging for a fight.
Sasuke walked quietly out of his apartment room and locked his door. He made his way through the crowd and past the many people. Sasuke sighed every now and then when he heard the occasional giggle or gasp from a young girl. Sure he was used to the girl attention, but he can't help the fact that he was a supposed 'heartthrob' for the past couple years.
He paused in front of a now empty house and looked at the door as he reminisced about old times, before anything happened, before anything changed, before anyone got hurt.
Save it for when I care.
He shook his head and moved to the house after. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly as he knocked on the door.
"I got it! Leave the door alone!" A female voice yelled a few seconds later.
Sasuke heard the rustling inside and tried to wait patiently. When the door opened, a blonde shinobi smiled at him. Over the past three years, this shinobi grew into something rather…desirable to some eyes. She became the flower of the village, the beauty of the beauties, in the course of two years. If the intended flower had not left, this girl wouldn't be the sexiest girl in the village. And Sasuke has the 'wonderful joy' of having her as his girlfriend…partly because she forced him and partly because he wanted the other fan girls off his back. Almost every single young girl hated Yamanka Ino.
Sasuke reflected on his decision of going out with Ino. Was he insane? No, don't think that was it. Was he drugged? No, not that either. The answer was almost quite simple. Blackmail.
"Sasuke! Sweetie! I was wondering when you would come. I thought you have forgotten about today." She said sweetly.
Earlier that year, Sasuke thought he was going to kill himself for every time Ino called him 'Sweetie.' But he has restrained himself from doing so and went on to pretending to be infatuated with her. Truth is he doesn't have any feelings for her in that area. The only feeling he has for Ino would be that of pure disgust.
Sasuke nodded and said, "How could I forget?"
Ino blushed slightly and closed her door, taking Sasuke's hand. They started to walk through the street as jealous fan girls glared and prevented from throwing kunai knives at her head. Besides, she's only dating him for the popularity.
Few minutes later they reached a restaurant where four other shinobi waited for their appearance.
"Ino! Sasuke! You guys made it!" Hinata said cheerfully.
She smiled as Naruto nodded in agreement and said, "Yeah, it's about time you came. I'm getting hungry."
Ino laughed and sat down with them. Sasuke sat down as well and stared at Neji who was staring back. Neji smirked and continued to glare. Deep inside in Neji's mind, he was urging to fight Sasuke. Sasuke, wanting to fight him as well, intensified his gaze.
"Now, boys, we came here today to spend time together, not kill each other ruthlessly." Tenten said calmly. "And you promised me, Neji."
Neji blinked and broke the gaze. He looked at Tenten and smiled. Naruto leaned back on his chair and sighed. Hinata watched Naruto and placed her hand on top of his and gave him a concerned smile. All Naruto said was, "Don't worry Hinata. I'm just thinking about Sakura right now. She should've been here with us today."
The whole group agreed and remained silent as they remembered a friend that has left them. Three years ago, Sakura began to distance herself from others, beginning with Sasuke. She still talked to the others, but she began to less and less, as if something inside her died. Many of the villagers realized that she doesn't seem as cheerful as she usually was, and she tended to train by herself or space out in some situations. A year later, Sakura's parents realized this sudden change in attitude and thought that maybe it had something to do with the Konoha. So they decided that a change in home might do her some good.
"Yeah…I wonder how Sakura's doing right now…" Tenten said.
"Sweetie," Ino started, "weren't you the last one to see Sakura?"
Sasuke paused and nodded slowly. It was just plain coincidence he was the last one to see her. He just happened to walk by her house that day…
Two Years Ago
Sasuke walked down the semi-busy street towards a certain pink-haired shinobi's house. He just wanted to talk about something. Who said talking was bad? The moment he reached her house, he knew he was missing something. There were boxes upon boxes in front of her house, and her parents were talking to some guys wearing cheap uniforms. Sakura was sitting on top of a box labeled: Sakura's stuff. She yawned and spotted Sasuke and looked down.
"Are you moving?" Sasuke asked, stating the obvious.
"Yeah…I am." She replied, avoiding his eyes.
"When are you leaving?"
"Today."
"Where are you going?"
"I don't really know."
"Sakura…I just wanted to say…"
"Uchiha, you don't have to say anything." Sakura looked at him and flashed a fake smile. For the past year, Sakura has been calling Sasuke 'Uchiha' as though she didn't know him at all.
"No. You say that to me all the time. You know that I have a lot to say."
Sakura sighed and said quietly, "Whatever you need to say I bet I don't really want to hear it."
"But you need to hear me out…!"
"Why? So you can break my heart again?"
Sasuke stood there stunned at Sakura's sudden response. He just noticed that Sakura was starting to cry, but it was obvious that she was trying really hard to keep it in.
"Sakura, I didn't mean to…"
"What? You didn't mean to break my heart? You didn't mean to break me in pieces?" she yelled, the tears finally streaming down her face.
Sasuke just stared at her in silence. He didn't know what to say, what to do. He just stood there as though time has stopped. Sakura's parents looked at Sakura with worry and at Sasuke with sympathy.
"I'm sorry for being a burden. Once I leave, I hope that you will forget everything about me." She chuckled, her first almost laugh in a year, "Because maybe, just maybe, I might forget about you, Uchiha."
Present Day
Sasuke sighed and pushed away that memory.
'Once I leave, I hope that you will forget everything about me'
Sasuke clenched his hands into a fist. He tried, time and time again, to forget. He just couldn't. Ever since she left the village -left him in particular- he felt that something was missing. He felt like the one thing he cherished was taken away from him; the one thing he thought he could keep was gone.
Naruto placed his hands on the back of his head and sighed. "Man. I just miss her, that's all. It's been what? Two years since I saw her last."
"But her parents thought it might be good for her, remember?" Hinata said quietly.
Tenten nodded. "Yeah, I heard about that and I kind of have to agree with them. She was not really herself before she left. She seemed quite…"
"Distant." Neji said, finishing her sentence.
"Wonder why?" Ino asked innocently.
Sasuke looked at her and prevented from killing her on the spot. Wonder why she says. Like she didn't know already, Sasuke thought. It was HER fault that Sakura left.
Sakura's voice rang in his head, 'You didn't mean to break my heart? You didn't mean to break me in pieces?'
Okay! I get it. It wasn't Ino's fault! It was mine! Sasuke screamed mentally. He shook his head and looked out the window. Everyone grew silent and began again to reminisce about Sakura.
Naruto, still being the same as that of three years ago, broke the silence, "Do you think she will ever come back? I mean, she isn't going to be gone from Konoha for good is she?"
"I just don't know Naruto. I just don't know." Ino replied. But I'd rather like it if she stayed out of Konoha. Ino thought. I have Sasuke all to myself, even if it was by force, he's here with me and he claims to everyone that he loves me; she would only get in the way and ruin things for me if she came back. It would be best for Sasuke –and for all of us- if she would just stay where she is now!
"I think she'll come back. No scratch that, I know that she will come back." Naruto said.
"Well she is back." Tenten said. Hinata nodded, looking where Tenten was looking.
"What?" They all said in unison. Neji dropped his glass and Naruto fell off his chair and quickly stood up, gaping stupidly at her. Sasuke just stared at her, not knowing whether to believe her or not.
"No seriously. Look." Hinata said, pointing at the window.
Sasuke looked across the street and saw a familiar face. It has lost its girlish touch and showed the looks and beauty of a young woman. Her radiance shown to them all as the wind blew her long pink hair. Ino had to push Sasuke's chin up to make sure he doesn't drool anymore. Naruto looked at the woman as if he saw an angel. Hinata just stared along with him. Sasuke stared at her as if she was seeing her for the first time in his life.
"Wow! Look at her! She's stunning! Hard to believe what two years could do to a girl." Tenten said dreamingly. "I never thought she would come back to the village."
"She's…so…beautiful…" Sasuke whispered, low enough that no one heard him.
She walked into the restaurant and sat alone two tables down from where everyone else was sitting. Apparently she didn't notice any of them, even when they were talking and staring at her.
"Do you think she…?" Hinata whispered.
Naruto shook his head.
"Maybe we should get her attention." Neji said.
"I think we should." Ino said. "But how?"
"Ooh! I know!" Tenten exclaimed.
"How?" Sasuke asked.
"Just watch me!" She stood up from her chair and inhaled. She then exhaled and said loudly, "Haruno Sakura!"
"That was original." Neji sighed.
"Hey, it was better than nothing, Neji." Naruto said, close to laughing.
"Oh look! I think she noticed!" Hinata said excitedly to the others.
"Noticed what?"
"Don't be silly, I think Sakura noticed that we called her!" Hinata said.
"Of course I noticed; that's why I'm here."
"Eh?" Hinata looked up and saw a pink-haired shinobi smiling at her. "Sakura?"
"Hey, Hinata. It's been a while, hasn't it?" Sakura said, running her hand through her hair. She glanced at Sasuke who was looking out the window, acting as if she wasn't there.
"A while? Sakura! It's been two years! We've missed you like crazy!" Tenten said, hugging Sakura.
"You came back…" Naruto said quietly.
"Welcome back to Konoha." Neji said, pulling Tenten away from her everlasting embrace.
"I've missed you guys so much. I've thought that you have forgotten me…but I'm glad you still remember me." Sakura said cheerfully.
"Hey," Naruto started, "you seem different that the Sakura of two years ago."
"How so, Naruto?"
"I don't know; you just seem more cheerful."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Ino asked, placing a mask of pure joy over her face. "Sakura looks better than she did when she left us, right?"
"She does, it's just, what have you been up to these past few years?" Naruto asked.
"That should be a good story," Neji said, "can't wait to hear it."
"Yes. We would all like to hear it." Hinata said.
Sakura blushed and said, "Oh no you guys, you wouldn't want to hear it."
"Yes we do!" Ino said. "We haven't seen you in ages and we would like to know what you've been doing."
Sasuke continued to look out the window and kept on pretending that Sakura's presence did not matter to him at all. All in all, he was giving his complete attention to hear her story.
"Come on, have a seat." Tenten said, motioning to a chair.
She sat down between Naruto and Tenten and took a deep breath. "It is not that long of a story, but I guess it is worth telling." She looked at the interested faces of her friends –all except Sasuke- and began to tell her story.
"Well, as you all know, two years ago I moved away from Konoha because my parents thought there was something emotionally and mentally wrong with me. They thought this because I was not really acting myself after something that happened to me the year before, and parents being parents noticed after quite some time."
Sasuke tensed up as he heard that last sentence, he really did not want to be reminded of that.
"So we moved up to the Western Mountains to where my Aunt lived. The settings there weren't very different to that of Konoha, but there were less people in the village and almost everyone knew each other. It was a very nice place to live. It was so peaceful and friendly there. It was kind of lonely because I was the only shinobi there…so most of the time I would train in the forest or walk around the village."
"So you didn't make any friends?" Hinata asked.
Sakura laughed quietly. "Of course I made friends. Well, they made friends with me. They noticed that I wasn't so social, so they thought it would be best to make friends and break me out of my shell."
"Who were they? They sound nice enough to make friends with our Sakura." Tenten said.
"Well, there were four of them. There was Sanosuke, Natsumi and Nami the twins, and Himiko. We hung out a lot together, and it always turned out to be one of the best moments I've ever had. They were great people to be around, and they reminded me of you guys. So instead of forgetting and moving on like my parents wanted me to, I just missed everyone here in Konoha even more."
"Maybe we should meet them some time. See the similarities between us and them." Neji said, calling the waiter for another round of drinks.
"Sakura, it sounded like you were having a good time there. Why'd you come back?" Naruto asked.
"Didn't you miss me, Naruto?"
Naruto sighed, "I did. It's just you seem so much like your old self when you were in that Western Mountain village. And when you were here, it just seemed like you were someone else. Sakura," he continued, "what happened to make you change so much?"
Sakura dropped her glass and closed her eyes. She shook her head and replied slowly, "Nothing important."
Sasuke turned to face Sakura and stared at her. She opened her eyes and looked at Naruto, giving him a small smile to tell him she's fine. Sasuke noticed that her eyes didn't shine as bright as before, they looked dull and lifeless. Even if she did grow into a fine sixteen year old young woman, even if she did bloom into a beautiful flower, even if she did change a little more into her old self, her eyes would never change. Her eyes looked the same as that time three years ago, the time she saw Ino and him together…
"Sasuke?" Ino started, "Where are you going?"
Sasuke stood up from his chair and walked towards the door. "I need some air."
Sakura watched as Sasuke walked out the door. She sighed and looked at the others around her. "So, what did I miss?" She looked at Naruto and Hinata and smiled. "Are you guys finally going out?"
Hinata blushed and Naruto just smiled and said, "Yeah, now I don't have to worry about looking for someone to kiss." And with that he leaned towards Hinata and gave her a simple quick kiss.
Neji sighed and looked at Tenten. She looked back at him and smiled.
"So how long have you two been together?" Sakura asked them.
"Three years," Tenten answered, "but I guess we should count the months that we weren't together, it was a kind of on and off thing going on."
They all laughed at that and Sakura turned to Ino. "So Ino, any luck with Uchiha?"
Ino stared blankly at her. "Uchiha…?" Since when does Sakura call him 'Uchiha'? "Well, we've been together for more than a year now…"
"Ah, that's nice to hear." She replied. Sakura felt her heart beat fast, as though it were in danger of stopping. Sasuke was going out with Ino. That was to be expected. She knew it was coming. Sakura thought it would hurt her inside…but it surprised her that she didn't feel as hurt as she thought she would. Sakura figured this would happen because he didn't love her. He never would. She only came back to Konoha so she could see him again. Moving never made her forget her own feelings, she couldn't help it. No matter how hard she tried…she still loved Uchiha Sasuke.
"So Sakura…are you staying here in Konoha for good?" Neji asked.
"Well…I was planning to but I don't really have place to stay…"
"You could stay with me if you like…I have an extra room in the house." Hinata offered.
"Really? I wouldn't be imposing would I?" Sakura asked.
"No, not all! It would be great if you did Sakura."
Sakura smiled. "Thank you Hinata."
Sasuke walked around the village, sometimes bumping into the occasional fan girl. He couldn't get her out of his mind. Sakura was all he could think about. For the past three years, all he could think about was Sakura. She was his missing link to finding what truly was precious to him. Sasuke couldn't help it. He tried in the past to tell her, but bad things always happened to prevent him from doing so. First it was Ino, and then it was her moving and brushing him off in the process. Sasuke knew he had hurt Sakura, and he swore to never do it again. He only wanted to make things right. So then, he decided, there's no other way. I can't keep pushing her aside. I'm going to do what I should've done years ago.
A young male of seventeen stood outside the Konoha gates. His long brown hair, tied in a ponytail, blew in the summer breeze. He smiled and blinked his grey, enticing eyes. He looked up at the clear blue sky and sighed. She didn't have to run off like that. She caused him so much trouble just by running away. He couldn't help but smile again at the mere thought of having her back in his arms. "So this is where my little Saku-rin ran off to…"
To Be Continued…
Author's note: …it takes me so long to update! Grr! I'm trying to update as fast as I can but I get so many mental blocks in the middle of each chapter! Grr! And this one I seem to get so many mental blocks Grr! Well….I'm glad I finished at least…I hope you like it! Yay! Sakura's back to stay! Or is she? I'd jus like to say thanks thanks thanks soo much to all he reviews and reviewers! They kept me going and helped me lots through my mental blocks! Thanks again! Reviews…comments…suggestions…flames….anythings welcome! (i had to edit this chapter cuz i did something wrong...)
Preview of Ch.4: Her Love Belongs to Me
"Saku-rin!"
Sakura looked ahead and gasped. "Sanosuke? What are you doing here?"
Sanosuke walked up and took Sakura's hand and place a soft kiss upon it. "Isn't it obvious? I've come to take you home, my love!"
"Home? But, Sanosuke, I am home."
"Your home is with me and your parents back in the mountains. Come with me, Saku-rin."
"Leave her alone." Sasuke said fiercely. "She isn't going anywhere."
Sanosuke stared hard at him and smirked. "Don't tell me you're Uchiha Sasuke? Hmph. You're the reason why I'm taking her back with me!"
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