Chapter twelfth

The pride of an Uchiha

There will be flashbacks in this chapter!

Sasuke leaned against a nearby wall. He observed the area skillfully; after much experience from fan girls,he spotted nothing. A bad feeling churned inside his stomach. Sakura is definitely with Yamamoto, but where? His dark eyes scanned the area. He did not care whether Sakura knew about their past or not, he was worried about something much worse. A conversation with his family doctor replayed in his mind.

Flashback

'What? You're saying anything she'll recall will cause pain? That's-"

'It is not impossible Sasuke-san; it's just a rare case. Her mind cannot collect forgotten memories.' The doctor's serious and sharp voice cut through him. His eyes told Sasuke it wasn't a simple matter.

'W-What do you mean?' he asked in confusion. The doctor looked down, pushing his glasses up the bride of his nose. Eying Sasuke, he let out a sigh and answered.

'Too much memory causes headaches, if my assumptions are correct; she had used medicines in the past which have caused this. Like I said, it's a very delicate and rare matter. If I'm correct, she must have had memories lost when she was still an infant.' Sasuke lifted an eye-brow at this. He stared at the doctor. Everything he said made logic sense, yet he couldn't bring himself to believing it. Sakura did lose her memories; nothing is too weird these days.

'Yes I understand'

He stated that he understood, but wasn't sure if he were true to his words, or if they were just for show for the doctor. Besides the doctor standing in front of him was an Uchiha genius, and one of the best doctors in the whole city. He could not afford to lose his reputation in front of a well respected member. He graduated from college at the age of 20; the man sitting across from him was one of the best doctors that money could afford.

'I'm afraid that more memories would just cause her pain, just like today I presume. It depends on the amount of memories too. I suggest that you leave her the way she is and let her remember things gradually' Sasuke's eyes widened at the unbelievable news, it almost seemed as if he were living in a drama series, where his life was set up in a cruel way and every thing around him was extra dramatic.

'Sasuke-san, I must leave now, I have an important meeting to attend to' Sasuke nodded, he sighed knowing that Yamamoto was a danger to her, Sasuke got up and led the older Uchiha outside and bid farewell in the Uchiha manner.

End of Flashback

His eyes searched around. Why the hell does this stupid school have to be so big? His mind screamed. It was the day. And Yamamoto was up to something weird, as suspected. He knew he should have given Yamamoto a talk; it was his entire fault if Sakura was to get hurt. He recalled another conversation he had a while back. Three weeks after the conversation with the genius Uchiha doctor, and five days after he and Sakura became friends.

Flashback

'Sasuke-kun, what a nice surprise, you came to visit me!' Misaki yelled jumping over to Sasuke giving him a tight hug. He effortlessly dodged the deadly hug.

'I want you to stay away from Sakura' it was a simple yet demanding statement. Misaki only pouted innocently.

'But she and I are childhood friends!' winged Misaki, Sasuke quirked a brow.

'What kind of friend would torment their friends?' Misaki smiled cheekily and answered, knowing that it was another one of those empty threat talks.

'One of a kind!' Sasuke bit his lip; he gripped his fist tightly keeping the anger in. Misaki saw his reaction clearly, her face automatically changing. Switched onto serious mode, Misaki's voice matched her expression.

'Its her fault to begin with, she was the one who didn't listen to my warnings' Sasuke held in his inner temptations of smashing Misaki's face, grasping his white knuckled fist even harder. What other way was there to pull out his anger? Besides smashing the cause of it?

'You have no right to give those warnings' he muttered dangerously, his gaze fixed onto the ground hard enough to burn a hole.

'What are you talking about Sasuke? Remember I had you first? She had no right to just come and take you away from me'

Sasuke eyes darted to meet Misaki's red ones. Ones which reminded him of his brother. They were called the Sharingan eyes, and very few members of the Uchiha family possessed them. Those who do were geniuses born to lead the family. But Sasuke had none of that talent, he was nothing compared to his brother.

'You're speaking as if I'm an object.' Taken aback by his harsh words, Misaki changed her voice, to what she thought swept fan boys off their feet.

'Sasuke-kun you know I didn't mean it that way' she said in that disgusting tone of hers, moving closer planning to make a move on the stoic Uchiha. Only to come in contact with a smack on her face, it was soft, barely even a tap, yet it hurt.

'Stay away from Sakura. Or else I'll make sure you never step foot in Konoha again' he threatened her. Uchiha Sasuke just smacked a girl. He hated her; it was all her fault to begin with. He would have murdered her if it wasn't for the 'accident'. As tears flowed freely out of her eyes, Uchiha Sasuke turned to leave the crying girl. The pain that she cried over was nothing compared to the pain that Sakura went through. He thought to himself.

End of Flashback

It wasn't so long after that, Misaki decided to have a 'conversation' with Sakura. He was worried that day, but he willingly left the rooftop. Maybe he wanted to run; he wanted to run from the fact that he had once again hurt Sakura. He caused trouble for her. But that smack on the face, Naruto had woken him up. He made a mental note to thank the Dobe, but being Uchiha Sasuke, he could never pull himself into doing something like that. His eyes once again searched the area as he spotted a tinge of red belonging to Misaki on the top floor. He dashed toward the building hoping that he wasn't too late.


'SHUT UP!' yelled Sakura, her head pained, the more Misaki talked the more it pained. Pictures and memories came flowing back. Her inner self started to fade, her head shrouded in pain.

Her hands wrapped around her ears trying desperately to block away Misaki's voice. What Misaki told her was unbelievable. It was hard to believe, why would Sasuke want to keep something like that away from her? It wasn't true, it couldn't be true. She's lying don't listen to her! Her inner self whispered. Her voice was fading; she was disappearing, as large amounts of memories rushed back to Sakura's head.

As the pain only increased more, Sakura slowly started to accept what Misaki told her. Her head started to pain even more, and more and more. Until she could see nothing else other then darkness. She let out a loud screech as she dropped to the ground. Misaki who was on the other side of the room smirked, it was working; she knew it was strange that day at the park. So that's your weakness, Haruno. With a smirk Misaki ordered the fan girls.

'Get her!'

'STOP!' the fan girls turned to see who yelled, Yamanaka Ino heard everything from behind Misaki.

Ever since she heard news of Sakura and Sasuke becoming friends, Yamanaka Ino had lost her will to fight on for Sasuke; who was her childhood crush for the last five years. Maybe she only stayed with the fan girls because she felt guilty for acting the way that she did. She didn't want to eat her words and become Sakura's friend.

They were enemies, rivals. She said so herself. Yet this time, Ino had lost before she even started. Uchiha Sasuke was already Haruno Sakura's from the beginning. She had been fighting a battle, where the results were inevitable. Acting out of instinct she rushed over to Sakura, planning to do everything she could to repent for her foolishness.

At that moment the door flung open revealing the people that she was relieved to see. They're here! Her true friends, Hyuuga Neji and his crew standing at the classroom door along with Uzumaki Naruto.

'Stop right there' said Neji in a demanding voice, the crew rushed over to defend Sakura from the swamp of Uchiha fan girls.

'Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan!' yelled the loud mouthed Naruto. Ino's eyes poured out as she saw her real friends in front of her, coming to help her when she had betrayed them.

'Care to explain what is going on here?' asked Hyuuga Neji looking down at the beaten Sakura.

Silence. The whole room fell silent. Every one (except Uchiha Sasuke) feared the Hyuuga and his infamous crew.

Neji's sharp eyes darted up to meet Misaki's, without saying a word he sent the message that the question was directed to her. Misaki shivered and broke the gaze, she was afraid that his eyes would eat her alive. His freaky white eyes were what made him strong.

'Ino, what are you doing here?' asked Neji, the senior's eyes darted to the blonde girl crying quietly next to the unconscious Sakura. The door flung open, came in Uchiha Sasuke.

His eyes wide in shock as he saw the scene before his eyes, it was almost like a repetition of six years ago, yet this time, Sakura wasn't injured. Her body lay uncomfortably on the ground; her eyes half lidded, staring at nothing. She looked so blanked out; he could have mistaken her for an oversized, lifeless doll sleeping on the ground.

Filled with hatred and anger, his eyes quickly darted over to Misaki, she gave a horrified look and fell to the ground. The Uchiha glare was a dangerous weapon. Acting out of reflex, Naruto quickly scooped Sakura up into his arms and headed towards the door. When he passed Sasuke, seeing the boy just standing there sending death glares with anger filled eyes, as though saying 'Where are you taking her?' Naruto stopped.

'Are you coming or what?'

Naruto observed Sasuke's face closely, wondering what was on his mind. Without saying a thing Sasuke turned around and headed out of the classroom with Naruto. Neji glanced over his shoulder to see his cousin Hyuuga Hinata, who turned around also to meet his gaze. He nodded, granting her permission to go with the two boys. Hinata rushed out of the room following the two.

Tenten, who was the only one that noticed the pained expression on Ino's face, kneeled down beside the girl and put an arm around her, stroking her back with the other hand in a kind gesture. As the big sister in their crew, she had always been the one to run to whenever you were emotionally pained. She had many talents and admirable traits, and always knew what was going on around her. Tenten had an ability to understand. She slowly helped the girl up and whispered in a soft motherly voice.

'Let's get out of here; the guys can handle the rest.' A faint smile that was hardly recognizable crept across Neji's face as the two girls moved out. His expression hardened as he turned back to the fan girls.

'Kiba, go and inform Tsunade-sama'

Kiba nodded and dashed out of the room with Akamaru. Misaki could have chosen to do all that out side school, but taking in the fact that Sakura mysteriously disappeared every single day after school, it was a bad idea. Thinking that no one in the school would defy the biggest crew she decided to take actions during school time. Who would have thought that the people in front of her would have come to the rescue? Their numbers didn't even match up to half of her crew.

Misaki wasn't afraid of the principal, the lady was probably one of those snobby principal's who would shut up whenever money was thrown at them. That way, she could secure the safety of her and the girls. And the Uchiha family owned half of the school, having her parents requesting a favor wouldn't be a problem. She had everything planned out since the beginning. Her plan was a success. Plastering a smile across her face, Misaki stared straight into Neji's white orbs showing none of her fear.


Pacing back and forth in the long silent hospital corridor, Uzumaki Naruto waited impatiently. Hinata who was also there watched in silence, she had always been shy. She was his seatmate for the last six years and yet, she was still shy around him. Thinking back, she, unlike others who would avoid him for his uniqueness, decided to sit next to him.

Sasuke was seated around two seats away from the shy girl, starring at the white floor for an hour already without moving an inch. The silence created a tight atmosphere. Although occasionally there would be nurses and doctors walking by accompanied by the occasional ambulance sirens and doctors and nurses yelling out to each other. The silence was kept between the three. No one said anything, no one did anything. They only waited.

Sasuke's mind exploded in all kinds of emotions, ranging from: anger, guilt, hate, worrisome. He knew the day was no good, yet he let her out of his sight. It was the second time he made the same mistake. A memory flashed upon his head. Bad memories. Things of the past. Things which he wanted to bury and never to resurface again. Yet it flooded back upon his mind. It was a similar situation, he made the second mistake. His father had scolded him.

Flash back

A harsh hand slapped across his face. His brother Itachi watched in a sour expression. Sasuke's eyes darted towards his father's face which was blank without emotions, just like the proper example of an Uchiha, the perfect example.

'Do it again' his father ordered.

Sasuke didn't know why he listened; maybe it was fear and respect mixing forming a strange combination. He slowly picked up his books and once again redone the mathematic question, for someone his age the type of question in the text book in front of him was far beyond his level. He was eight. Yet he was studying instead of doing things which normal eight year olds were suppose to do. Slowly he grabbed the pencil and started solving the question once again.

'When Itachi was your age he already finished this topic'

Another slap, he had once again made the same mistake. Both of his cheeks burned as tears flooded out.

End of flashback

He didn't have a normal childhood; neither did Sakura. His source of fussiness when it came to being a perfectionist depressed his mind. He was in a situation where he could just break down any minute, yet his mind didn't let him, his pride as an Uchiha stopped him. It was the same pride and name that put him in the situation he was in today. Although he looked calm, Sasuke was the most nervous among the three.

Sakura was in a critical condition. It was his fault. He knew that Misaki had no good intentions; she was the one who hurt Sakura. If Sakura wasn't in the condition she was currently in he would have made sure that Misaki's family would suffer. Years of being controlled by his father did him good, he got connections and they kept increasing non-stop, he knew people who would put the Yamamoto industry to a stop without the help of his father, easily. Business parties after parties did him good. He had decided. Sasuke was going to make them suffer. Memories of the past flooded into his head as he recalled them. He emotionally prepared himself for the worst to come.


Her head felt pain as she opened her eyes to see darkness surrounding her, once again the same cold darkness. She waited for the red eyed monster…it didn't come. A soft sound of sobbing came from afar as she noticed the figure was curled up on the ground in front of her, she was much littler, crying, her pink hair messily cut short.

The darkness surrounding her slowly dissolved as she mysteriously stood in front of an elementary school. Dirt covered her younger self along with little bits of blood. I remember now. It was the first time I got beat up. Crying even louder the little Sakura squealed out her pain. The older Sakura stood, watching herself cry, until it was sundown. Sakura stood there watching memories of her past playing like a virtual video.

Flashback

Flash of white light.

Little Sakura waited outside for her ride home, she had been waiting for an hour already and yet there were no signs of her father's car. He told her that he was going to pick her up and take her shopping, he promised. The little girl took a seat on the big steps outside the school door. The sun was almost setting and yet, no sign of a running car, not even a sound.

Sakura stared down at the ground sadly; her father had once again broken a promise. The setting sun caught her attention as she got up and headed out of the school. There was no point in waiting for someone who would never come. Step by step, she walked her way home by herself. It was the first time she had walked by herself. It was the first time that she felt brave.


A little boy sat by himself on the swing attached to a large branch of an old looking tree. Under the shade, he watched the other kids playing together in the sun. It seemed as if his world was in the dark, while others lived in the light, he watched them with tired, gloomy eyes.

After a while the boy got tired of watching his classmates having fun and returned to his book, a rather thick book for a10 year old kid. It was called 'The Da Vinci Code' a rather popular book among adults, not to little ten years olds like him.

He tried to concentrate on the book; the many complicated words muddled up his head. He closed his dark onyx orbs and rested them; darkness consumed his vision with stinging pain of relaxation. He didn't even know why he started reading the damn book, maybe it was because of his brother.

His brother influenced him in many ways, from talking to dressing. Every thing he had done, he would do too. If that is what it took for his parents to acknowledge him, like the son his parents loved, than that is what he'd do. To gain the same respect his brother had. The son that his parents wanted him to be. Every time he made some kind of progress, it meant he had taken a step closer to achieving his parents' wish.

He would do anything to please them; he would do anything to make them proud, anything. It didn't take his father too long to decide to give him a limit date for the book. Within the next three days he was expected to finish the book. Another expectation. Another step toward becoming the perfect Uchiha.

The loud sound of the school bell ending recess woke him up from his thoughts, he slowly got off the swing and headed back in. As he walked pass a few girls from his class he could hear whispers and giggles, they've been doing that ever since he came to the school. He closed his eyes and ignored them, as always those girls were annoying.

The boy opened his eyes and continued walking inside holding the thick book. As he turned round the corner towards his next class, something large crashed onto his forehead knocking him onto the floor. He winced at what ever it was that lay on top of him, the weight pressing into his body.

The boy opened his eyes as he saw the other students surrounding him, his head stung in pain. Something really hard hit his forehead and he was about to find out who the cause of it was. A little girl with unusually short pink hair lay on top of him. Being so close to her face made him have the chance to observe her face. Funny. He thought. Now I know why my forehead hurts so much. He thought staring at her over-sized forehead. Her big emerald orbs stared innocently into his dark ones; she blinked twice and realized what kind of position they were in.

'Can you get off me?' asked the boy rudely, the girl quickly hopped off him.

'I'm s-so s-sorry' stuttered the girl, Sasuke got off from the ground, and he took one last glance at her and walked off.

'Forget about it.'

'Did you see that? Sasuke-kun didn't yell at her!' she heard a small voice from the many eyes surrounding her.

'She hit Sasuke-kun's forehead with her large one!' Yelled a girl, she was offended by the way they addressed her. The feeling of rushed anger bombarded out of her as she yelled as loud as she could.

'I have a name you know! It's Haruno Sakura, don't you ever call me with anything that's got to do with my forehead' she turned around, leaving the large crowd staring at her with wide astonished eyes.

Being too lost in thought, she almost tripped over a thick book; she picked it up and read the title, 'The Da Vinci Code'. Little Sakura recalled the boy named Sasuke holding the book, without a second thought of who was watching or how late she was to class. Little Sakura averted her eyes towards the opposite direction, which she guessed would be where the boy named Sasuke had headed. Without a moment ofhesitation, she dashed towards him.


It wasn't until he was almost in class that Sasuke had remembered he had forgotten his book. Instead of going back to class he headed back to where he had bumped into the girl, just when he was about to turn, he once again encountered the large forehead smashing into his one, this time it hurt even more since the pain from a while ago hadn't exactly disappeared.

'OWWWW' yelled Sasuke, little Sakura panicked, it was the second time that she had literally bumped into him. He must be mad.

'I'm s-s-so s-sorry!' she never really stuttered, why was she stuttering now then? The boy slowly got up, he noticed his book wrapped around in her arms, her frowning looks like that of a puppy dog. A random image of a pink poodle appeared in his mind, but the dog looked nothing like the little girl in front of him.

'You again?' murmured little Sasuke as he stared at her with annoyance, a large sweat drop rolled down little Sakura's face, the aura that he was giving off was too tight. She was finding it hard to even breathe, she felt as if she should do something stupid in front of him, just too at least relax the atmosphere.

'Y-Your b-b-b-

'Cat got your tongue? Speak already' Little Sakura didn't say anything, she just blushed and quickly handed him the book and ran off.

'What a weird girl' Sasuke turned around and headed back to class.

End of flashback

Sasuke ran his hand through his hair, trying to block away the thoughts, the pictures. He thought he was able to handle this, to forget about it. He thought he was going to live normally, yet, he was nothing near normal. He sighed as he waited for the doctors to rush out of the room and let him know if she was okay or not.

His head could almost explode in frustration, yet at the same time, his pride wouldn't let him. Naruto and Hinata were there, what would they think of him? Would they look down upon the cool, collected Uchiha the same way?

Sasuke watched Naruto in pure jealousy, he was able to let out emotions, Sasuke could not. Naruto was close to Sakura, Sasuke was just another friend. The more he thought, the more Uchiha Sasuke wanted to explode, to pour out all his emotions until they all drained out. But he couldn't. An Uchiha just couldn't. Sasuke once again let a frustrated sigh escape from his lips as he sat there silently, in his thinking pose, reminiscing the past, the unchangeable.


Flashback

Once again Sasuke was reading his book; the other kids were playing their ninja games. To him it was childish; he would never understand why they would want to throw around paper shurikens and jumping around. To him they were wasting their time. All he had ever learnt to do was to read, write, solve math problems and attend business parties and dinners.

They were aliens to his world. Although he had no interest, Sasuke still watched them from afar. Once or twice after reading around a paragraph of his book, Sasuke would glance, my eyes just made me, he reasoned.

This time, it wasn't like the other times, the girl who had bumped into him the other day also watched them, not so far from him. Instead of watching them in annoyance like he did, she watched them in a sense of longing, wanting to join. It almost looked as if she was going to cry.

Noticing the attention upon her, the little girl turned around, but Sasuke was quick enough to divert back to his book.

His eyes must have read the same lines several times before he realized that he wasn't concentrating. Once or twice he found himself looking over at her, the little girl that was no different to him. Sitting there watching with a sense of longing, wanting to join the stupid ninja game.

Realizing that curiosity was getting the better of him, Sasuke went back to reading, the same line once again. He was told that it was an exciting book, yet his mind couldn't find any interest in it, it was fast paced, yet it was slow in his world. Every word was painful.

'What are you reading?' a voice appeared right next to his right ear making him jump in utter shock. His head swiftly and instinctively spun around.

'I'm sorry, did I scare you?' the girl from the other day asked politely, her wide green eyes darted towards the book, looking in interest.

'Not really. What do you want?'

He asked rudely, not that he didn't have any manners; he just couldn't use them towards kids his age. He grew up with adults bowing down upon him. Maids, butlers, servants bowed down upon him. But he was taught with manners alright, so much that it pained him. His tutors were granted permission to physical abuse; it was his father's definition of discipline.

'Nothing, I just thought that it was strange, that you're not playing with them' she took a seat beside him, watching the kids from afar.

'I'm too busy for the likes of them' he closed his book and placed it down beside him. At this rate there won't be any reading done. A snicker came from her, his face darted to her, she laughed as if he had just said something funny.

'What?' said Sasuke with a rude tone.

'You talk funny, like an adult' he frowned; a slight feeling of displeasure hit him as he sent back the insult.

'I do not; you're the one who looks funny. You have a big forehead' her face turned red as she pouted.

'Shut up, it's not as bad as your chicken hair!' his eyes twitched.

'There's no point in talking with little kids like you, I'm going back to reading'

He opened his book and darted his eyes back to the boring black and white pages. He would have almost fell asleep due to the many hours of reading the boring text. His eyes would occasionally take a small glance over to her. Hoping that she would just leave him to his peaceful boring reading. Yet she sat there, once again watching the other kids playing. Her eyes burned with intensity, watching them.

'Why don't you just go over there and ask if you can join?' he once again closed his book, her face turned around to meet his. Smiling bitterly she answered.

'I already did, they wouldn't let me, they said that I look like an ugly monster. What about you, why are you here reading?' she asked. Closing his eyes, Sasuke answered.

'I have no time for childish ninja games'

'Why?' she asked with curiosity, her lashes battered as she watched a flower float nearby; she slowly reached out her hand to pick it off from the ground.

'It's none of your business' he answered. The school bell rung signaling the end of break. The little girl got up and held out her hand, offering to help him up. Sasuke ignored it and got up himself.

'It's nice talking to you, Sasuke-kun' she smiled cheerfully, before she turned around and headed back to class. He felt the obligations to ask for her name.

'What's your name?'

'H-…Haruno Sakura, see ya' he smiled. Was that my first friend? He found himself asking, but no answer came from his mind. None, he stood there watching her running back. It was then that he knew he wasn't the only outcast.

End of flashback

The door of the emergency room softly opened as the doctors came out. The Uchiha doctor stood in front of him. Sasuke got up straightening up his face; he bowed giving his respect to the older Uchiha.

'How is she?' he spoke, his voice was weak due to the long amount of silence. The doctor inhaled a large breath and answered.

'She will wake up in a while, depends on how much she remembered'

'Can't you give us an exact time?' butted Naruto, who felt like he was left out.

The feeling of irritations and worrisome mixed in as Sasuke fought the urge to smack Naruto on the head to let out the inner anger that he was holding inside. But standing in front of the presence of a respected Uchiha forbade him to do so. Therefore the most he could do now was to grip his fist tightly and channeled the anger there waiting for the right time to release it.

'I'm sorry, but it's very hard to determine a time. You may visit her now if you wish' his tone held a strong vibe, that of a successful Uchiha.

'Yes, thank you' Sasuke thanked.

The doctor and Sasuke bowed, he left leaving the three teenagers standing there in the hallway. They rushed into the room as soon as the doctor was out of sight.

To be continued…


Author's note – Hi people, hope you like the chapter. And I hope that was long enough for your likings. Since I was in a good mood and its my birthday today. I've decided to update.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Are any one interested in reading the below for this fic? Since I'm in such a good mood, I've decided to throw in a special.

LEMON – the fic's rating will be changed to M

LIME – the fic's rating will still be changed into M

NOTHING OF THE SORT – obviously stays the same

Voting ends in chapter 16.

Vote for one people. Of course those things will be located in the later chapters, as an ending present. I need to know early to prepare a plot for it, that's if a considerate number of readers want it. There wont be any preview since I gota study and haven't typed up the next chapter yet. So see yah all.

Shiro - 16th March 2006