Note to the reader: Happy new year everyone! I'm actually typing in advanced but I am still following my one update per week schedule. I am still hopeful to get reviews. sob you definitely don't want to see me beg… but I am begging already for reviews. Well, whatever happens, thank you for reading Confessions.

Summary: Sometimes, you have to have a few minutes to realize a lot of things you've missed and concealed.

CHAPTER VIII- An Ample Time to See

The Valentine fever went on smoothly for a few days before people returned to their normal lives. Men worked tirelessly despite the chilling season and the students remained at home for they had a Semestral break. The college attendants would also be in vacation for a week and a half, afterwards, it would be lessons again. Winter had never been that cold, for the record. The temperature dropped to negative ten degrees. Many cases of cold death were announced over television, and most of the victims were people in the slums. The ones who could afford heaters and coats, however, suffered as well though they likely survived the path of winter.

Uchiha Sasuke, the famous alluring army student, was in a sickly condition that night. He was in the hospital, partly because of mild fever, and partly because of a check-up. Dr. Haust had finished taking Sasuke's status and handed him the printed copy of the result. Sasuke's eyes moved from left to right as he slipped into his black shirt. He stopped for a moment and then continued wearing a black sweater. "Transplant?" He inquired with sharp eyes.

Dr. Haust nodded slowly and crossed his arms. "Heart Transplant as soon as possible." He added with a low voice.

"Am I that sick?" Sasuke averted his gaze from the doctor and stood up. "As I observe, I don't see any symptoms. I don't feel any symptoms."

"You did… several times already." Dr. Haust spoke gravely, recalling the times when Sasuke was rushed in the hospital. "Stop acting like a child Uchiha."

"Who are you to tell me that?" Sasuke raised his voice. Silence penetrated their throats for minutes before the doctor spoke once again.

"You need a transplant or your heart will fail you." He placed a meaningful pause before he continued. "You already know that without me proving it to you."

Uchiha Sasuke—he was not only seductive but was also very stubborn. In fact, he had denied almost everything regarding his weaknesses. He only confided his human side to a priest named Father Luis who waited in a church for him. And he waited for that college student every night. He had a fear, though he didn't exactly know why, that one night, Sasuke might not come. It was weird… and not at all right. But anyhow, the old good priest waited for Sasuke who was the complete opposite of what he expected from the teenagers of Sasuke's time.

And that night, the Uchiha came.

"Father, you should have an overcoat." Sasuke sincerely noted with an inclination of his head. He pulled the long sleeves of his sweater toward his palms. "It's too cold and you're—"

"Yes, weaker." Father Luis added with a pained smile. "But I'll be fine, son, you take care of yourself."

Sasuke went silent for a while before rubbing his palms against each other. "Father… I—" He sighed and continued, "I'm going to the Snow Country on the twentieth."

The priest was obviously taken aback. "But with your condition, you can't! Surely, the school will ask for a medical certificate."

"Yes." The Uchiha nodded slightly.

Father Luis knew what was wrong with Sasuke's health even though he had no news of the needed transplant. He smiled and handed Sasuke a locket which shone not with gold but silver. Its shape was a plain circle with carvings outside. When Father Luis handed it to him, he was quite dubious to get it. He raised his eye brow in reply.

"Take it." the priest moved his palm closer for Sasuke to receive the gift.

The Uchiha forced a grateful smile and examined the locket. "So… isn't this a girl thing? I mean…" He let out a short chuckle before saying another word. "I have not seen men wearing a locket."

"True… but this locket is not for an accessory." Father Luis took the locket from Sasuke's open palm and gently raised it to his eye level. "It's for a memory." The other did not dare reply so the priest continued to speak while looking at the locket with admiration. "A locket holds two empty slots to be filled by photos of people, pets or even things you don't want to forget. When you're away, you want to be close to the one you love even for a moment in a single stare." Father Luis opened the locket and there was a brown picture of a lovely woman.

"Girl friend?" Sasuke joked.

"My mother." The priest eyed him with humor. "She's very beautiful isn't she?" The other nodded in response. "Here's my father." He showed the other half of the opened locket and revealed a stern looking man with the matching moustache. "Very genteel and rational though he is also very strict." He took out the pictures and gave the empty locket to Sasuke. "They said that I'd give this locket, as heirloom, to my son."

Sasuke paused into thinking before letting out words. "Your son? Don't tell me—"

"No, for heaven's sake, no Sasuke." Father Luis slapped the Uchiha gently on the shoulder. "Of course I have no son. I have sworn celibacy to the church." He placed the locket on Sasuke's palm again and said, "You are going to a far country and I believe you want to keep someone or something near you as you go. I bless you, as always, with guidance and grace. So, Son, return that to me."

Sasuke decided to take the locket from the generous priest and smiled. "Thank you father." He kept it in his pocket and folded his arms. "By the way Father, before I leave, I would like to confess that I have faked something."

The priest looked at him, mystified with what he meant. But Sasuke did not speak another word and left the church. I faked the medical papers.

Sasuke reached the dorm room he shared with Haruno Sakura. Their two days, two nights vacation in that rest house was delightful yet quite embarrassing to think about. The pink haired girl opened the door and let the weakened Sasuke in the room she was currently fixing. He did not greet her but he lied on the bed right away instead.

"Sasuke, please remove even just your shoes." Sakura placed her hands on waist and raised her eye brows to show slight authority. "In fairness, that bed is ours."

Sasuke did not move a bit to comply with the order. He simply turned to his side with his feet hanging outside the limit of the bed.

Sakura rolled her eyes and continued piling papers and books before sitting beside Sasuke. She recovered her breath first before giving the Uchiha a long glare and threatened him to remove his shoes. "Uchiha Sasuke, if you would not remove your shoes, I'm going to remove them myself." That was, in an opinion of a probable listener, a favor rather than a cold threat.

"Haruno, I'm trying to sleep here." Sasuke replied and grabbed a pillow overhead and placed it over his face.

That was it. Sakura hauled the pillow off his face and grabbed him by the arm, only to find out that the Uchiha had a high temperature burning within his flesh. In other words, he was sick. She quickly released the young man and placed her palm on his forehead. Oh my god… he's burning with fever! She pulled his darned shoes off and raised his head nearer to the head board just above a pillow. She covered him with a comforter and sat anxiously beside him. He must be pretending to sleep. It's hard to sleep when you have fever.

"Haruno…" Sasuke moaned her name and pointed the lamp. "Light."

She pulled the string and the light went off. He snuggled under the comforter and said a small 'thank you' before squeezing his eyes shut but to no avail. "Haruno… what time is it?"

"Twelve."

"Okay…"

Five minutes passed and Sasuke spoke again. "Haruno, can you get me a glass of water?"

"Sasuke, the lights of the corridors are already off. I can't make my way down to the kitchen—" Sakura was interrupted by a low moaning sound from outside. She stood up, locked the door and hurriedly jumped to bed.

"What was that?" Sasuke poked his head from under the comforted after feeling Sakura's jittery movement.

"I heard something… outside… Did you hear it too Sasuke?" Haruno almost whispered every word as if she feared that someone might hear her. "I mean… of course you heard it." She shot terrified glances at the possible entry points of any unwanted 'things'. "Right?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke's eyes showed bit irritation as he scanned Sakura who was clutching a large pillow as if it was for defense.

There was another melancholic tone of pain outside the door. "There is it again!" Sakura almost yelled and shook Sasuke's shoulder. "You heard it didn't you?"

"Your annoying complaints? Yes, I heard them well. Now let me sleep."

Sakura forced herself to believe that it was all her imagination. She slid under the comforter and was, unintentionally, very close to Sasuke. Sasuke noticed it and sighed exasperatedly. "You'll get sick if you remain this close to me."

There was that awful terrifying sound again. Sakura's eyes welled up. The only word she muttered was "Sasuke…" and she remained silent with observant, panic-stricken eyes. Sasuke looked at her and he didn't know if he pitied the dear girl or he found her silly and ludicrous. He decided to sit upright and slid off the bed.

"Um, Sasuke, where are you going?" Sakura asked anxiously.

"Out. To show you that there's no one outside." He replied nonchalantly. "So that I can finally sleep."

"Wait! Don't go there!" Sakura slid off the bed and held him by the arm. "There might be something and not someone out there. Don't leave me here…"

Sasuke found the time joke time. "So you actually believe in ghosts? Oh come on, I thought you were better than that." He watched her face grow pink for a moment before returning to its unusual paleness. "Fine, then come with me."

The two went out of the room and stepped on the dark carpeted corridor. Sakura remained clinging to Sasuke's arm while the other, despite the worsening fever, walked ahead. They took a few steps before Haruno pulled on his arm to stop and she shook her head.

"Hello? Anybody out there?" Sasuke lazily called out. No response. He turned to face the pale teen and shrugged. "See? Now let's go back to our room." But before he could take a step, he felt someone run through a corridor intersecting the corridor where they were. What was that? He looked around for a moment.

"Is there something wrong Sasuke?" Sakura asked and released his arm.

"Nothing. Come on." The two began walking back to the room when they heard a low moaning sound, perhaps from the same source Sakura was terrified of.

"DID YOU HEAR THAT?" that was the only sentence she uttered with great fear.

"Yes, yes, I heard it! Now stop pulling on my sleeve!"

The sound became clearer… and maybe closer…

"SASUKE IT'S HERE!"

"Stop grabbing me—"

After another horrifying sound from the unknown, Sakura had fled to the other side of the corridor before Sasuke could even stop her. He looked around cautiously but the corridor was too dark. "Haruno?" He called out but no one, not even a scream, responded to his call. "Sakura?" He called her by name and yet, he heard no word. Then out of the darkness… a hand drew out and ran up against his spine from bottom then upwards. He froze in the spot and perhaps it would be humiliating but he actually trembled. He did not want to turn his head; he did not want to attack the creature; he didn't want to do anything at all. Who knows what he'd feel when he'd try to touch the creature? Slime? Dust? Or cold nothing?

A deep moan filled with deadly anguish made his hair stand on its tip. The Uchiha slowly turned, ready for whatever gruesome thing he'd find, and then he pounced on the assailant with all his courage.

"Sasuke! What are you doing?" It was Kakashi with his red and black eyes uncovered. Sasuke was lying on top of him with his arm horizontally against his neck. "Are you trying to kill your lieutenant now?"

Sasuke went red for a fleeting moment before he stood up and held his hand forward to help Kakashi up. "What are you doing here Hatake?" He superciliously asked to cover up his fear. "Stalking me?"

"Not really." Kakashi had a handsome smile though unseen because of darkness. The slight moon light passing through open windows aided them as they walked a bit. "I am actually staying here. I just thought a walk would tire me and send me off to sleep."

Really… Sasuke thought and walked ahead. "Tell me, were you the one who did those moans just a while ago?"

Kakashi appeared innocent. "What?"

And the moan was heard again… plus a scream from a girl somewhere. Shit! Sakura! His cold feet suddenly sprang to life and he ran towards the end of the corridor. Kakashi blinked and waved pretending that Sasuke did bid him a proper good bye. He walked to the opposite direction and went out of sight. Mean while, the Uchiha reached the end of the corridor and heard more screams coming from downstairs. He gnashed his teeth and hurried down the staircase. And as he observed, the more he went down, the more it got… darker…

On the other hand, Sakura bumped into a wall and fell flat on the floor. She had been speeding too much causing her to suffer the same amount of force. She panted and touched her aching forehead before she sat up and shot anxious looks around. Sasuke, where are you?

There was pure silence and only the cool breeze accompanied her. She sat there with her emerald eyes still searching for light. Were her eyes closed or open? She couldn't tell. All she saw was darkness… black… raven… "Sasuke…" she gasped. As the seconds went by, she closed her eyes and imagined Sasuke's face… then his body… then his feet. She recalled how he looked at people and how he looked at her. She defined it different. Maybe it's just my imagination. After all, Sasuke is just playing with my feelings.

Feelings? She suddenly broke into a question. What do I really feel for him? She gasped as she felt her chest tighten. She knew that the pain was imaginary—only that it was real. He's playing with my feelings but what do I feel for him? She saw Sasuke's image flash in her mind… it seemed like she knew him more than anyone did. And she felt, unusual for her, that she wanted no one to know him but herself.

"What am I thinking?" She spoke out loud and sighed. I do not own him… at all…

Uchiha Sasuke, who was still running from place to place, felt less fear as his worry for Sakura's disappearance increased. Why was he looking for her anyway? She was a nuisance, for starters, and he just played with her to be frank. Play? Or he forced himself to believe so. His eyes were now glowing red as he turned from one corner to the other. When you play with someone, you show you are concerned. You show your fake feelings. Sasuke bumped against a door and fell back. When did you ever feel true emotions? "They're weaknesses." He told himself as he stood up. And they're revealing what I fear. He stopped for a moment and smiled.

"There you are."

Sakura's eyes showed little hope upon hearing those words. She couldn't see Sasuke but she knew what his voice was like. She didn't even know how Sasuke saw her but she did not care. "Sasuke!"

She heard faint foot steps against the carpeted floor and they suddenly stopped. She looked around futilely until she felt a hand brush against her nose. "What—?"

"Of course I can't see you!" Sasuke knew she'd inquire him about touching her nose.

"Then how did you see me here?" Sakura asked dubiously as she held on that hand.

Sasuke decided not to reply. I can't. He pulled Sakura up and led her back to the room. I could only feel you.

When they reached their room with little difficulty, they had forgotten about the freaky moans. Even Sasuke's fever seemed to go away with that unseen creature because he felt well after the tedious experience. The two removed their shoes and dropped tired on the bed. After some seconds, Sakura laughed. "Did you hear me scream again and again as I ran?"

"The whole world did." Sasuke added with humor.

"Wow, the corridors were that dark? Now I don't wonder why there are ghosts here."

"Ghosts?" The Uchiha slyly smiled and went under the covers. "Sa…ku…ra…"

"Quit that!" Haruno blushed and hit Sasuke with a pillow. "Sasuke!"

"I'm… not… Sasuke…" the Uchiha kept himself from sniggering as he approached the female teen with outstretched arms.

Sakura's eyes welled again and she pulled the comforter off Sasuke. She looked at him in the eye and suddenly embraced him tight. It was fast… unexpected… beautiful… Sasuke felt his hands around the slim figure as he buried his face in her hair.

"Sasuke," Sakura faintly said, "why did you look for me?"

Sasuke could not answer; or maybe he was afraid and unsure of what to say. He simply tightened his hold of her until he heard a gasp from the girl. Why was he embracing her as if he did not want to let her go? Why was she asking him questions which stroke through his heart? It took them minutes, in those cold dark corridors, to realize that they were looking not for each other… but they were searching for each other's hearts. They tried to forget what their little actions meant. They tried to conceal what was already offered.

…until now.

Sasuke raised Sakura's chin for him to see her emerald eyes. Those eyes were nothing before but now, they seemed to fill him with immeasurable joy. He moved his head to kiss Sakura… and he feared… for he almost sobbed against her lips… that it'd be the last time he could kiss her.

END

The chapter is short… I think. But anyway, in this chapter, they already understood that they actually had feelings for each other! Not only feelings but deep emotions still to be stirred deeper.

By the way, there is a word there which is spelled 'genteel'. 'Genteel' is different from 'gentle' folks.

Please, I'm asking for reviews… thank you for your continuous support for Confessions! It's nearing its end so prepare for the probable sequel!