Chapter 5-Pain of Head and Heart(There's always a choice)
Sasuke awoke to sand up his nose. He looked and saw a light above his head. He squinted in the light for his eyes weren't used to it. He looked at his side and sure enough, Sakura was there, still sleeping in his arms. He slowly slipped his arm free, without disturbing Sakura. Sasuke's eyes were now adjusted and he looked for the source of the light. Holding a flashlight was his stepbrother, "What do you want Itachi?" He whispered, trying not to awaken the pink haired girl.
"Mother sent me to find you. Sasuke, do have any idea what time it is?"
"No."
"It's 1:30 a.m. Father was worried about you. He hadn't seen you since lunch time. That was about 13 hours ago."
"Look I'm sorry Itachi. I lost track of time."
"What do you mean? You were dreaming of your girlfriend." Itachi motioned to Sakura.
"Sakura's not my girlfriend."
"Then why is she sleeping in your arms?"
"We were looking at the stars and she fell asleep. I didn't want to wake her."
"SASUKE!" cried a voice. It was Sasuke's stepmother. The cry had awakened Sakura. She looked into a second light getting brighter, "Sasuke, I'm glad you're alright. What are you doing out on the beach and 1:30?" She spied Sakura arising into a sitting position on her knees, "Oh." She said in a disgusted tone, "Sasuke, what are you thinking? You're only 17."
"Mother(Sasuke's stepmother insisted on Sasuke calling him mom or mother)! I can do what I want. I'm not a child anymore."
"That may be and I can't hurt you or that would be neglect and I could go to jail, but I can make sure that you're safe in other ways."
Sakura was still adjusting her eyes to the light when Sasuke's stepmother picked up a broken shell on the beach and threw it at Sakura. It hit Sakura's head and caused it to bleed. Sakura could feel tears welling up in her eyes. The wind picked up and blew sand into her wound. It was right above her eye and the sand made it sting. Sakura could no longer hold in the pain. Sasuke ran over to Sakura, "MOTHER! What have you done?"
"I'm only protecting you Sasuke. You never know who you are talking to." Sasuke's stepmother kicked a little sand into the wind and it blew into Sakura's wound. She winced in pain. She wiped the blood that had trikled down her face. Sakura's blood started to boil. Sasuke helped her stand up and when he saw her eyes he noticed and difference. They had changed from soft sea foam green that tickled at the look to sharp emerald that could cut a diamond!
"Look..."Sakura tried to control her voice, "Mrs. Uchiha(she had found out Sasuke's last name during one of their chats),I'm sorry that you feel this way about me. I'm not a bad person. Really. I'm just a simple 16 year old girl who came to the beach to visit some friends and made friends with Sasuke. Nothing special."
"Listen." Mrs. Uchiha's voice was much firmer and was laced with anger, "I'm only protecting my son from sick people. You understand?"
"I do. I'm not one of those people."
"I can't take any chances. Now...get off my property. Don't come back."
"Very well." Sakura turned on her heel and started to walk off the beach. Before she got very far, Mrs. Uchiha grabbed another shell and threw it at the back of Sakura's head. It hit dead on. She smirked. Sasuke saw Sakura stumble and fall the the sand. He tried to go help her but was help back by Itachi.
"I said...GET OFF MY PROPERTY!"
Sakura got up and ran off the beach before she had able to get hit again. She went to the original beach, where she first met Sasuke. Sakura cried her eyes out. Without anything to clean her cuts, and without Tenten or Hinata there, she was helpless. All she could do was apply pressure and wait for the blood the colt. Once done, Sakura ran into the water and swam out to her rock, where she spent the rest of the night.
Back with Sasuke, once Sakura was out of view, Itachi realeased his stepbrother. Sasuke stormed up to his stepmother and screamed, "What in heaven's name are you thinking?"
"I was thinking about protecting you. How do you know that Sakura isn't a golddigger?"
"Because I do."
"How long have you known her?"
"I met her yesterday."
"Exactly. How well do you know her?"
"We talked all today."
"Tell me five things about her."
"One: She loves the ocean. Two:She loves animals. Three:She likes turkey. Four: She likes apples. Five:She's never been on a date in her entire life!"
"What else?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"Because I want to see who this girl is. Now what else do you know about her?"
"She has an overprotective father. Her mother was murdered. The police never found the culprite. Her brother was shot and killed by a criminal. Her father used to work near a dock."
"Do you even know her last name?"
"Uh..." Come to mention it Sakura never mentioned her last name.
"You don't even know her last name?"
"She never told me."
"I can't believe this Sasuke. Now come inside before you freeze."
"It's the middle of the summer. It's warm out."
"I said, come inside." Sasuke followed his stepmother and stepbrother inside. His dreams were filled with his family hurting Sakura. By the end of his fifth nightmare, it was morning. He got dressed and went to do his lifeguard duty. He didn't see Sakura anywhere. He did however see Tenten and Hinata. He quickly went over to them.
"Tenten! Hinata! Have you two seen Sakura?"
"Uh yeah, she's over there." Sasuke looked to where Tenten pointed. Sure enought, the pink haired 16 year old was sitting, looking at the ocean, "Sasuke, do you know where she got that cut on her head?"
"I'll explain later. Thanks!" Sasuke jogged over to where Sakura was sitting. Today she wore a sky blue halter bikini top with matching bottoms. She had a long pink cover up, with cherry blossoms on it, that reached her ankles. He noticed she had a scar above he eye where the shell hit her. He couldn't see the other once, for her hair hid it. Sakura refused to make eye contact with Sasuke, "You ok Sakura?"
"No."
"What's wrong?"
"Do you not see the scar above my eye?"
"Yeah."
"Care to answer your own question?" Sakura's voice was very firm and had hints of anger in it.
"Look, I'm sorry for what my stepmother did. I couldn't step her. Itachi was holding me back. I had no choice."
"There's always a choice!" Sakura face had a frown pasted upon it as her eyes began to tear. She closed them and two drops slid down her cheeks. Sasuke went to wipe them away, but Sakura grabbed his hand, "Please. Just leave me be." Sakura got up and went over to Tenten and Hinata. Together the three left the beach.
For the next four days Sasuke didn't see much of Sakura. When he did, she either ignored him or gave him glare. Sasuke noticed that her eyes had not returned to the soft sea foam green, but remaind emeralds that could cut a diamond. Mostly she was hanging out with Tenten and Hinata. Once in a while he saw her alone, sitting on a rock, staring at the ocean. On the eighth day Sasauke had known Sakura(for those keeping track, it's the last day for Sakura with her perminate legs). Noticed Sakura sitting on the beach. She was wearing a white halter top with a pink skirt bottom. The sky was looking a little gray and not a lot of people were at the beach. The forcast today said that it would rain around noon. It was 11:30. Sasuke walked up to her, "You should go home. It's going to rain today."
"I know."
"So why don't you go home?"
Under her breath she muttered, "I am home."
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing Sasuke." There was silence between them for a few minutes. Sakura couldn't hold back anymore. She turned towards Sasuke and said, "I'm sorry." Sakura threw her arms around Sasuke's neck. She cried into his shirt. Between sobs she said, "It's not your fault your stepmother's a bitch."
Sasuke wrapped his arms around Sakura and let her cry, "I forgive you Sakura. I don't blame you. You were right. There is always a choice."