"Sakura," the blond whined through the door, dragging his fingers along the wood.
By the time Sasuke got up to the second floor of Kakashi and Sakura's house, he was met with the sight of his seventeen year old best friend sitting and pawing at the closed door, like a dog begging for entrance. Sasuke couldn't resist the amusement this brought him.
"Got kicked out?" he asked.
"Never got in," Naruto pouted, eying the door with wide pleading eyes.
"Huh," Sasuke glanced at the door, before pushing Naruto out of the way so he could sit down in front of the door, resting his back against it.
"Hey, Sakura?" he angled his head back towards the door, "Will you let us in?" Silence, Sasuke let out a sigh, "You know I could tell Kakashi about all the "pretending" we do afterschool, all the handholding, hugging, touching, our little game of how close I can get before you turn red," in an instant his resting place had vanished, causing him to fall flat on his back. And as Sasuke looked up, he met with Sakura's glaring shadowed eyes.
"Will you please shut up?" she seethed.
Sasuke's lips spread ever so smoothly into a smirk, "Why hello to you, too."
As Sasuke sat up, he made sure that his body was completely inside Sakura's room, leaving enough space so that Naruto could clumsily crawl in.
With a frustrated sigh Sakura left her door opened and walked back to sit on her bed.
Sasuke stood and proceeded to sit on the other side of Sakura's bed, much to her annoyance. Naruto settled for crawling around until he was as close to Sakura as he assumed he was allowed to be on the ground.
"Just to make sure," the blond asked, peering over the edge of the bed, "All that stuff the bastard said wasn't true right?"
"Well," Sasuke began.
"Quiet," Sakura said sternly, before saying softly, "No, it wasn't true."
Naruto sighed, resting his chin on her blankets, "What a relief."
Sasuke sent a glare to his friend on the floor, "I don't think I can handle any more of your stories teme."
"You and me both," Sakura grumbled.
"Hn," Sasuke scoffed, "All were necessary."
Deciding not to argue with the stubborn teen sitting next to her, Sakura sunk deeper on her bed, hugging the pillow close to her.
Sasuke took the time to examine his "girlfriend's" room. To be fair, after seeing her hidden green eyes and pink hair, his mind had envisioned something similar to those hues to decorate her room. Maybe a pink wall, some flowers prints or something of the sort, but he was met with plain white walls, and white furniture. Like the rest of the house, her floors were wooden with the only thing cluttering them was her school bag. As his eyes continued to scan the room he took notice of the window and how it possessed the only notable dark color in the room: black curtains.
His face lowered in a frown, he didn't know how he should feel about that. His eyes finally made it all the way around to her nightstand. And his eyes widened slightly as he examined the framed photo. He recognized his silver haired teacher instantly; though this time he had the rare luxury of seeing his bare face. In the photo, Kakashi was smiling, a softer smile than he imagined his teacher to have made a few minutes ago. To the photo's right he saw a woman, dark short brown hair and equally brown eyes, and a very swollen stomach. He noticed how the woman smiled and looked gently at Kakashi, and how her hand lay freely over his as Kakashi's hand rested upon the swollen area of her abdomen.
This was her. Sakura's mom. Her mother who passed away shortly after giving birth to her.
Sasuke didn't know for how long he had been staring at that picture frame on her bedside table, but he pulled out of his trance as Naruto finally spoke.
"Sakura-chan, is that your mom?" he heard the blond ask.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura tense and tighten her grip on the pillow her held close to her.
"Yeah," she further sunk her head into the pillow.
He heard Naruto's sound of wonder as he probably tried to get a closer look of the photo, without trying to make a big deal of it.
"Huh, don't really look much like her, but she is pretty," Sasuke could hear the grin on Naruto's face, "So I can only assume that, right now, you're just as pretty as she is, Sakura-chan!"
While Naruto continued to look upon the photo, Sasuke could see Sakura further pushing herself into her pillow, he could almost say she was shaking…
It hit him then.
She doesn't really look like Rin, not one bit.
I don't need to be taken care of.
She thinks she deserves it.
She began after I finally showed her, her mother's face.
Her mother's face.
A face, that was of her mother. A face, you wouldn't think to have been related to Sakura. A face… she looked nothing like.
"You've got to be fucking kidding," he cursed under his breath, but both Naruto and Sakura heard him.
As Naruto was about to ask his friend what happened, he was cut off by said raven haired teen, "Naruto go to the bathroom."
Naruto sat there bewildered, "Huh? But, I don't have to –"
Naruto had been on the receiving end of more than enough of Sasuke's glare, and the look he was getting was enough to shut him up and more importantly it wasn't even a glare. Well not entirely, it had all the characteristics of the classic Sasuke glare except that it wasn't laced with anger or annoyance but rather with seriousness and need. Wordlessly, but never taking his eyes off his best friend, Naruto got up and slowly made his way out, closing the door behind him.
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Perhaps he should have been worried that his daughter was upstairs with two boys, albeit one was his nephew and the other one assured him he only had his daughter's best interest at heart… She should be fine… as long as a specific one of the two wasn't alone with her that is.
Just as Kakashi had the thought, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, as he was used to he didn't turn around to see who it was. He kept his face on the papers he was finishing grading. He heard the footsteps pause for a brief moment before they continued onward to the kitchen.
Kakashi tried his best to give his daughter a bit of privacy as she probably went in to grab some refreshments for their two guests. He heard a lot more rustling in the room next door. A bit too loud for the usually quiet Sakura even when Minato and Kushina visited she would quietly prepare some snacks for her relatives before quietly excusing herself.
Kakashi craned his neck, no longer trying to hide his curiosity at what his daughter was being so loud about. Until he heard a loud thud and a low curse, Kakashi bolted from his seat only to see his nephew sitting on his kitchen floor, holding his foot, while having a sandwich stuffed in his mouth.
"Naruto?" Kakashi questioned.
Finally the blond looked up, removed his snack from his mouth, and swallowed the mouthful of sandwich before he spoke, "Ah sorry Kakashi-sensei, but Sasuke kicked me out and the kitchen seemed like a good place to wait it out."
"Ah," he nodded still a bit shocked to see Naruto in the kitchen instead of Saku-
"You said that Sasuke what?"
Naruto stopped midway from taking another bite, after pondering for a few seconds he realized his mistake.
"I meant that I was hungry and Sasuke was getting annoyed with me complaining about it, so I came here to get some food."
Kakashi narrowed his gaze at the blond, silently telling him to try again.
"Ah," Naruto groaned as he stuffed his sandwich into his face, "Dohnt worry abowt it Kakashenshei," he swallowed loudly, "Nothing's going to happen up there."
Kakashi was storming off before Naruto could finish, leaving the teen to scramble up from the ground and chase after him.
"Wait!" Naruto called out while clasping onto his uncle's leg, "C'mon Kakashi don't be like that!"
"You want me to leave my daughter in her room with a hormone filled teenage boy claiming to be her boyfriend by herself!"
Naruto paused, not letting go of Kakashi's leg, "Well when you put it like that," Kakashi pulled on his leg, "But! Sasuke wouldn't do anything like that! You know him!"
"I knew him," Kakashi struggled to get his leg free, "You two have grown Naruto! I can't trust him now that he's gone off and got matured!"
"Matured?" Naruto successfully wrapped his legs around Kakashi's captured one, "Did you not just see us fight over how to knock on the door a while ago? He and I are on the same boat Kakashi-sensei and if I'm not mature then he sure as hell isn't either!"
His words didn't make Kakashi relax but it did make him stop struggling against Naruto's hold, "That doesn't make me feel any better, Naruto."
"I know," Naruto's grip loosened slightly, "But, now allow me to place some sort of peace into all this," he crossed his arms, his legs still around Kakashi's, "Sasuke is all talk with this stuff Kakashi."
Kakashi raised a lone eyebrow, trying to grasp the relevance of this topic. Using his uncle's silence as encouragement to continue, he went on, "I've told you a while back that girls never interested Sasuke. He was aware of the effect he had on them and he knows how to get a reaction from them," he made sure that Kakashi wasn't going to interrupt him before he continued, "But that's it, Sasuke has never fully initiated anything else. Girlfriends, pft, you can forget that! To be honest I was surprised Sasuke even decided on this whole act."
Kakashi finally fully relaxed, "So you want me to trust Sasuke, with my daughter, because he's a white sheet of innocence?"
Naruto scoffed, "Well I don't know about that, but as close to innocent as a dude can get. And! If you still want some reassurance, just think about how flustered Sasuke would be if Sakura ever tried to tease him back, even by accident! I can almost guarantee that he'll back off on his own!"
The older man let out a light chuckle, "I can't deny that it would be amusing… but you expect me to just let my daughter initiate something like that?"
"Pft, no," Naruto scoffed, "Though I may not know Sakura all that much, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't let herself stoop so low… unless it was to get Sasuke off her."
"Is that why you were kicked out?"
Naruto shook his head viciously, "No, but… I think Sasuke may have figured something out."
Kakashi let himself lean against his living room's couch's armrest, "… What do you mean?"
"I don't know, but it could be serio-"
Muffled yelling could be heard from the stairway, the two men downstairs could tell easily tell Sasuke's voice out of the two, and then what they assumed to be Sakura's voice came booming down almost equally. However, it was almost impossible to make out what the two were yelling about.
At the sounds of the shouts Kakashi stood tall, with Naruto at his shoulder. Both wearing weary looks, laced with the need to protect. Naruto instantly held Kakashi's arm back as his uncle only just took a step forward.
"It's something, Kakashi-sensei, that you have to let them work out," Naruto reasoned.
Kakashi let out a tired sigh, "Sakura is my daughter, Naruto, I can't just allow someone to-"
"Sakura's my cousin Kakashi-sensei," Naruto's eyes hardened, "And if I even had the slightest doubt in my mind about Sasuke, I would've already been up there beating the shit out of him for even thinking about yelling at her," he dropped his hold on his uncle, "I'm restraining myself as best as I can, and I hope you can, too."
Would you look at that… Kakashi thought to himself. Here he was standing in front of his nephew and student, one of the most impulsive beings he ever had the courtesy of meeting and actually watching him grow up, was encouraging him to calm down. Though he had all the reason to be protective, he was also aware that Sasuke had reassured him that he only had Sakura's best interest at heart. Releasing a final breath he sunk down onto his couch and began his patient wait, Naruto following suit.
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.
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Once Sasuke heard Naruto's steps going down the hall and down the stairs, he got off the bed. Beginning his pacing, he remained silent the whole time, causing some confusion in Sakura.
Willingly, she pushed back her hood, as per their agreement, and stared intently at the thoughtful pacing Sasuke was doing at the foot of her bed. She had never once heard him curse, well at least not in her presence. Whatever thought was going through his head must have had a hard impact on him… not that she was worried. But if he had other problems, then he won't be able to fully help her with the situation he shoved at her.
"What are you-" she began, only to be quickly shushed. She frowned at him, "You mind telling me what's going on?"
Sasuke paused, finally, however his frown remained on the ground. "How much do you care for your dad?" he asked stiffly.
Her frowned deepened, "A lot."
He raised his head, facing her ceiling before releasing a slow breath, "And your mom?"
His only guess for her reaction, was calm or bad. He had expected her to stay on her bed, to stare at him with those sad eyes that would probably have hurt in them now. He thought she would shrink back into her hood and he wouldn't have the heart to tell her that she was going against their deal. He thought she would quietly question why he would even think to bring up such a sensitive topic to her.
He thought and he was wrong.
All of his assumptions went out the window once he heard her feet on the ground. They were running for cover as she walked closer to him in a calm, casual pace. And they were already dead when he tilted his head down to face her, only to be met with a stinging pain on his left cheek.
With his head turned to the side, he didn't bother to face her again, nor did he bother to shake his hair away from his eyes.
"How dare you," her voice shook, "What gives you the right to ask me that?"
Without changing his position, Sasuke spoke, "Answer the ques –" a hard shove cut him off.
"I'm not going to!" she finally yelled.
"Then we're not going to get anywhere!" he finally turned back to her. He saw the anger in her delicate face, but he didn't miss the pain and sadness that was still in her eyes, "You have to tell me, there's no other way I can help!"
"How will this help?! How does my mom fit into this?! I only asked you to help with this stupid relationship you came up with!"
"Of course it fits in with everything! How am I supposed to help you when –"
"You're not supposed to help me! I don't need it! You're just supposed to fix - !"
"Yes you do!" his voiced raised louder than before, and his hands found themselves on the tops of her arms, "You need my help so badly, how else do you explain hiding yourself from your own father," he saw her eyes widened, but that wouldn't stop him, "Just because you don't look a thing like your mother?"
This time her eyes did widen, this time she did try to sink back into her hood, this time… he saw something he didn't want. This time her eyes began to gloss over, and his hands tightened ever so slightly on her arms, his own eyes widening.
Was that really it, he thought to himself.
She lowered her eyes, still brimming with controlled tears, "Can you… please… leave?" her voice quieter than he had ever heard before.
"I can't," he stated simply.
Seeing her control slowly slipping, Sasuke released his hold on her arms. Quickly, he reached over to pull her hood over her eyes, and with his other he pulled her head to his chest. He felt her stiffen when his hand came in contact with her, but that only made him want to pull her in further.
He couldn't quite pinpoint what was going on in his mind that possessed him to hold her close to him. The only thing he could recall, was the throbbing in his throat, the tightening of his chest at the sight of her teary eyes and her shaky lip. And then, instantly he wanted nothing more than to erase the image from his memory.
There were only a handful of people Sasuke knew he wouldn't bare to see shed tears; his mother for sure, his brother, his father, Kakashi… and well he'll suppose Naruto, too. And at this moment Sakura was going on that list. Seeing her try so hard to keep from crying, seemed so much more painful than actually seeing her cry would be. It was something he was trying so hard to prevent. But at the same time he had expected it sooner or later. And at that moment, later seemed like the better option, especially for his aching chest.
So he held her. A hand still holding down her hood, and the other still holding her close, she was frozen in place for a few moments. And as expected, she raised her arms in a weak attempt to push him off.
"Uchiha," she began.
"At the very least," he interrupted, "Let me let you keep me from seeing you cry."
She hesitantly stopped her struggle, "You already know that I'm going to," she mumbled against his chest.
His hold tightened, "Just… let me give this to you."
And just like that, her shoulders slumped, her hands laying limp between their chests before slowly, and shakily going to grip the fabric of Sasuke's sleeve. Sakura pressed herself further against his chest, anything to make her feel like he couldn't see her. The tears she had been holding back came pouring out.
He let his cheek rest on top of her head as he felt her body shake against his. Something like this shouldn't be hurting him so much. Her quiet sobs, muffled against his chest struck him harder and harder every single time. He wasn't prepared for this, this agony her tears caused him, it was almost irrational. No this was irrational. Everything about his state was irrational.
He knew for a while now that this situation was far more than curiosity taking the reins. Sasuke knew what he was doing, even now as his arms readjusted to lift Sakura enough to lead her onto her bed. He was aware of every movement he made, of every movement she made; the way her hand's grip tightened on the fabric of his shirt. He knew that right now, as he lay on her bed, leaning against her head board, that if Naruto or Kakashi were to walk in they would more than likely have a fit. If they saw them both laying together, her head on his shoulder, his arm around her form, his free arm once again placed gently yet securely on her hood, her frame almost completely flushed against his, still shaking, he had no idea how he'd handle it.
He wanted her to calm down, and oddly to him, he wanted to see her smile… something he's only now realized she hadn't done since meeting him, he could almost guarantee that it's been longer than that.
"Why," he looked down at her shaky lips, her voice so painfully soft, "Why couldn't I just – I cou – couldn't even give him that," her voice breaking.
Knowing better than to expect an explanation, Sasuke remained silent, his hand rubbing her upper arm in what he hoped would be a soothing motion.
She curled up closer to him as her cries continued. Sasuke stayed there, trying his best to calm her. After a few long minutes, he noticed her breathing slowed, waiting a few more moments, he shifted.
He lifted her hood slightly away from her face for him to see her. Her eyes closed, as she slept, her brows furrowed, mouth slightly opened, and her face still wet from her tears. Gently, he wiped the offending streaks of liquid away.
Sasuke turned his body to fully face Sakura, and reached over to pull her blanket around her, tucking the end between the two of them. With the blanket around her, he felt her relax a bit against its warmth.
His eyes traveled once again to her still frowning face, he gave a small smile at it, before gently bringing his hand up to lightly tap her furrowed brows. At least find some peace while you're sleeping, he thought as he watched her face smoothening out.
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Long time, huh? My bad. I have no excuse… actually I kinda do. I've started working and well I haven't really had much time for anything, except for some weekly tumblr edits but eh, that's been normal. But I did want to get this chapter up before the year ends so here it is. Hehe, still sorry about that, life is too damn hectic, and well most of you know of my inconsistency… GOMEN! Thank you for those still keeping up with this story! I'll see you in my next update!
Ja ne!
-Ira