DISCLAIMER: Naruto's not mine but this story came out of my head so yeah.
#04: Caution
One-shot prequel to Blackout
OOOOO
"SASUKE-KUUUNNNN!"
She was at a young age of 5 when she used to shout the name of her first friend along the quiet neighborhood in a city called Konoha.
"I SAID SASUKE-KUUUNNNN! WAIT FOR MEEEEEEE!"
Said boy stiffened upon hearing his name. He knew very well who owned that familiar shrill voice and he was sure he was the only boy named Sasuke in this seemingly peaceful neighborhood.
Terrified as he was for his dear life, he slowly and hesitantly looked back to see a blob of pink hair coming his way. Nearing and nearing to where he was standing, he felt his breath hitched.
"Umf!"
It has always been the situation between these two best friends: him dying within the brutal embrace of his best friend. But as much as the young boy was delighted to see his petite friend, he can't keep meeting her in such a way that he keeps fighting for his dear, dear life.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!?" She paused looking at him only to strangle the boy once more with her embrace.
"I'VE BEEN UP AND DOWN MY HOUSE AND YOUR HOUSE SINCE YESTERDAY BUT I NEVER SEE YOU UNTIL NOW!"
Seriously, for a little girl like she was, she has the capability of cutting the life out of him.
"S-"
He tried to voice out but ended up choking on his own spit.
"I MISS YOU SO MUCH, SASUKE-KUN!"
"GAHHHH!"
He released one, two, three deep, deep breaths as he was finally able to get out of her stronghold. Pushing her off of him at the same time, pulling her enough not to let her fall hard on her bottom. He coughed and wheezed as he tried to catch his breath.
"C'MON, SASUKE-KUN! LET'S PLAY PILLOW FIGHT IN YOUR ROOM!"
Hearing the word room froze him to his place. It can't be. It just can't be! Because not so long ago…
"Sasuke-chan! What happened to your room!?"
Mikoto stood astounded at the look of her son's feathery room. Catching a feather on her hand, she glared at her son.
"Clean this," She ordered, "NOW!"
He was frozen in his place. He knew very well what that look on his beloved mother's face meant.
"If you don't, you won't get your precious Tomato Soup tonight!"
It can't be! He cannot, not eat his precious Tomato Soup tonight! He's been craving for it for like the whole week and it's the best in the world! One of a kind and made specially by his sweet, sweet mother!
"SAKURA-CHAN!" The woman he resembled so much chirped to the little girl beside him, "Come here, dear!"
"B-but I Sasuke-kun-"
"Oh leave him be! I'm sure he can clean it up by himself and finish before dinner. Right, Sasuke-chan?"
Without wasting any more time, he frantically began his cleaning because tonight, he's going to eat his soup!
"C'mon Sakura-chan! I baked some cookies you'll love!"
Without second thoughts, Sakura jumped up and ran to his mother's side and left him… to himself, alone to clean his one big messy room.
That night he won't forget. He was almost deprived of eating his favorite soup. He can't fathom the thought of watching his brother hogging all the gold soup to himself while he, on the other hand, shared the common slabs of grilled steak served to everyone else in the household. It was his precious Tomato Soup! Fortunately, he was able to clean everything right on time… sparkling clean all for the love of his precious Tomato Soup ala Uchiha Mikoto.
How did they become friends again? That he can't remember. But that very night, he vowed not to let the one Haruno Sakura enter his room to play pillow fight AGAIN.
OOOOO
Somehow, Uchiha Sasuke got over the incident that almost banned him from his soup. He began playing with the not-so-little Haruno Sakura once more and back in his room once again.
They were 7 and still so young but a little bigger than they used to be. They were playing tag in his big, big room with her as the "it".
"THIS IS UNFAIR!" She screamed halting by his bed, "SO UNFAIR!" And she plopped down straight to the soft, soft mattress.
"Hey, I chased you for like an hour! It's only been 10 minutes since you became the it!" He taunted from the opposite side of where she was lying prone on his bed.
She wasn't responding.
"Hey, are you okay?"
Still there was no response.
He came in closer. Using the long wooden stick he magically picked up on his way to her, he poked her side where he secretly knew it would tickle her big time. Still, there was no response.
He stood straight, "You're freaking me out Sakura."
His face was calm and serious but inside, he was truly freaking out. What if she died of exhaustion? What if she forgot to breathe? She was his one and only lovable best friend and he won't let anything bad happen to her!
He came by her side and pushed her prone body a bit too carefully into a supine position. She was breathing. Thank heavens! But she was fast asleep.
He smiled upon seeing her peaceful sleeping form. She must've been too tired running away from him if she fell fast asleep like that.
Looking at the digital clock by the right side of his bed, he picked one of his many, many pillows. Carefully placing her head to rest on it, he stopped when she suddenly stirred from her sleep afraid that she was going to wake up. He sighed in relief when he heard her soft snores instead.
Adjusting the temperature of the air-conditioning to his room, he plopped on his side of the bed opposite to where she was sleeping facing her. Sharing the same pillow, both kids fell into a deep, deep sleep.
OOOOO
They were 9 when playtime became less on physical activities and she just can't stay still.
"UGH! YOU'RE NO FUN, SASUKE!"
She said throwing the controller onto one of the throw pillows on the carpeted floor. He glanced at her and went back to focus on getting the ultimate weapon of Lu Bu on Dynasty Warriors 4.
"IS THERE ANY OTHER GAME WE CAN PLAY!?"
Sasuke paused his game and picked the nearest case on his side.
"I have but you aren't really a fan of zombie games, are you?"
He said waving the case of Resident Evil to her.
"PUT THAT THING AWAY! UGH!"
She screamed throwing a pillow straight to the back of his head.
"Thought so." He smirked as he went back to his game impassively.
"Can we just go out and play? Like play tag or hide and seek or… whatever!?"
Still focused on the wide flat screen of his room, he shrugged, "It's raining."
She looked out his window and truly it was raining... and a bit too heavy for her liking.
"Then let's just chase each other around your room… like we used to when we were little!"
That could do but, "We're too big to run around this room now." He deadpanned, "Besides, you hate to be the one to chase."
Rare silence enveloped the two. She laid her head on the pillow beside the young Uchiha, who was still drawn to his game of Dynasty Warriors, and sighed heavily in defeat.
For a moment, he glanced at her checking out if she was alright. She was gloomy but he passed her one controller from another console of his and waited for the chime of the coin to start.
She diverted her gaze from the ceiling to the flat screen, "You're old school…" She commented impassively but he never bothered.
"BUT I LOVE IT!"
And that day, they played a game of Super Mario 3 finishing every world with a triumphant yes until the time has come for her to go home and have a good night sleep.
OOOOO
They were 11 when monkey Sakura suddenly plopped herself down his bed unceremoniously.
"Ugh… I can't get up."
Her face was scrunched up, seemingly in pain. But Sasuke, the unsuspecting young boy he was, thought she was her usual self; only mischievously playing tricks on him. He was young and as smart as he could be, there are things he has yet to know. So disregarding other possible choices aside of how she came to be today, he kicked her out of his bed and commented, "You haven't even taken a bath yet."
Silently, she stood like a ghost beside his bed; uncombed pink tresses covering her face.
"You…" She muttered lowly with killing intent dripping off her voice.
"What?" He replied seemingly unfazed and still reading his magazine.
Unsuspecting as he was, he felt the bed dip with her added weight. One minute he was reading his magazine, next second, he was fighting to breathe as Sakura strangled him with his luckily soft, soft pillow.
"Hey! Stop it!"
"YOU STOP IT! I TOLD YOU I CAN'T GET UP! ISN'T THAT CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND, YOU IMBECILE!?"
Still fighting for his right to breathe, he tried his best to push the pillow away from him.
"If you can't get up, then what the heck are you doing right now?"
"YOU WOKE ME, YOU ASS!"
"You're always invading my space!"
"YOU NEVER STOPPED ME UNTIL NOW!"
Successfully, he was finally able to pin her on the other side of his bed. He was breathing hard and was about to lash out on her when he saw her green, green eyes glistening with unshed tears.
"That's not going to work with me, Sakura." He deadpanned.
"I-I know…" Then suddenly, she cried out loud.
"Sasuke-chan!" Mikoto, out of concern, busted in her youngest son's room only to inappropriately blush at the scene she accidentally caught in front of her, "W-! Oh, I'm sorry for disturbing…"
Young Sasuke, still ignorant on some of his impulsive actions, looked at the position they were caught in by his beloved mother. A slight tinge of pink adorned his cheeks and soon after, he finally let go of his wailing best friend.
"It's not what you're thinking…"
He looked back to his now curling best friend whose crying turned into sobs and tried to explain to his mother what actually happened before the scene they were caught in.
"Sasuke-chan," His mother called sympathetically, "Forgive Sakura-chan! I think she's having mood swings right now. I think it's that time of the month, you know… for us women."
Sasuke blushed upon understanding. His mother patted his shoulder smiling and stood up.
"Her parents are out right now so take care of her for a while, okay?" She said in her motherly tone, "I'll bring things you might be needing to assist her with- Uhm, and I'll bring you guys food, in case you kids are hungry."
And from then on, he began watching his actions whenever she acted out of her usual character.
That day, he let her rest on the space of his bed she always occupied whenever she comes by his home. He took care of her and made sure that he doesn't do anything stupid to incite another episode of her unwanted mood swings.
"Sasuke-kun?"
"Hm?"
"Thank you…"
And in that quiet afternoon he heard her quiet and sincere gratefulness, he felt like he can take care of her whenever. Besides, it's not so bad to take care of his beloved best friend.
OOOOO
Maturity sure comes fast with women and at 13, Sakura just stopped her childlike antics. No more waking up in the morning, screaming all the way from her room to his room and asking to play; nor suddenly popping out of somewhere and saying how much she's missed him. Even hanging out now comprised of either just sitting together talking about random things or as simple as just staying together. And for the record, it unnerved her supposedly stoic young Uchiha best friend.
"What?"
"You're weird."
"How?"
"You're quiet and…" He thought carefully as he began minding the words he say whenever he's around her, "demure."
Sakura, on the other hand, looked up from the book she was reading. Raising a brow, she contemplated whether he just complimented or insulted her.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"
He shrugged not knowing the right word to say.
She went back to her reading and smiled, "Then I'd take that as a compliment, thank you!"
OOOOO
A year after, Sakura still remained to be the quiet and demure young lady Sasuke learned to keep up with. Though he missed her former self, especially her nonstop profession of how much she missed him as a child, he was able to easily love this new and same person. But something just began to feel amiss.
Since they start going to school, they've agreed to walk together to and from school. This ensured the safety of each other until one day, she excused herself from coming to school with him.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun! I'm not yet done preparing for school but you can go on without me!"
That day, he went to school alone. He didn't put too much attention on something that only happened once. Yet the same thing happened after classes were dismissed.
They've been classmates since 8 and he knew all too well that she hated extending her stay in school; hence, they either go straight home or they would take a short detour at the park and buy themselves a cone or two of her favorite ice cream. But that very same day she excused herself from coming with him to school and she once again declined going home together.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun but I have club activities scheduled for today! You can go home without me!"
He brushed it off albeit feeling weird: It was the first time she joined after school activities… and she didn't even tell him about it. There have never been secrets between them (not that he nor she would admit to it).
What he thought was temporary suddenly became a regular and to be honest, he abhorred this sudden change between them. So he thought he needed to confront her and fortunately, it was a weekend; a seemingly perfect day for confrontation.
He thought it was the right time to return the act. As a child, she was always the one to visit him in his place but now, he thought that he'd be the one to make the effort. Thus, early Saturday morning, he immediately went to her house and asked permission from her parents if he could enter her room.
There seated quietly on her soft, soft bed was his best friend hugging dearly the stuffed toy he remembered he gave her on a random occasion.
"Hey…"
Silence followed their not-so warm greeting to each other.
"Haven't seen you in a while… how've you been lately?"
"Great!" She said, "I've been busying myself with school; you know, homework, readings and after-school activities."
He listened.
"I didn't know after-school activities can be so much fun even though it's a bit tiring!"
Lies. He hated to admit it but all he heard were lies. He sneered at his own thoughts.
"I didn't know you're one to enjoy after-school activities."
"Hey, people change you know!" She replied as she smacked him in the head with the bear she was hugging. After all, she did feel insulted.
He chuckled defending himself and the simple yet sincere words he spoke halted her to her place.
"I missed you!"
Silence, once again, befall the now awkward best friends.
He was smiling at her but the hold on her wrist told her a different story: he was mad and sad and she knew too well whose fault it was. She knew he needed comfort as much as she needed it but she was afraid; Afraid that a single act would break their relationship even more.
Her green, green orbs widened as she felt two strong arms wrapped tightly around her. Her stuffed toy left forgotten on her side.
"You know I hate change, Sakura." He whispered still not letting her go, "Most of all, you know very well how much I hate being lied to."
Instead of feeling the coldness of her room, she felt more warmth as he breathed and nuzzled his face on the crook of her neck.
"I tried to understand every excuses you made but every time I get the chance to really look at you, all I felt are lies just like what you are doing right now."
Her hands fisted the back of his clothes, breath hitched at the accusation she was receiving from the person she called her best friend. But even before she can push him away from her embrace, he spoke once again.
"I'm supposed to be your best friend but seeing as how you are keeping things from me, I feel betrayed…"
A tone of resign resounded in his voice and as much as she wanted to keep holding on to him, her hands just seemed to let go all on its own.
Hold on!
"I wish you would talk to me about it. Tell me what has been bothering you; why you're not confiding in me…"
'If you really care about your relationship with Sasuke-kun, stop your lame game of best friends with him.'
"But every time I try, you'd always throw me one of your excuses or you'd just laugh like a mad woman like nothing's wrong. You've been laughing, much more smiling, less recently and honestly, I missed your laugh and your smiles…"
'Let him go…'
"Those recent times we've been able to spend our time together, I know you were sad and deep in your own thoughts. I want to know what you're thinking about and why it's making you sad. I want to help you but realizing that my presence only make you sadder…
'… you will only hurt him more.'
It hurts me."
As if electrocuted by a non-existent current between them, she pushed him away. If she was scared to hear those words come out from his mouth, she was more terrified to see those feelings of hurt reflected on his obsidian orbs. He doesn't deserve feeling hurt especially if inflicted by her because he was always giving. He always gave her everything.
Let go…
'You'll only hurt him more…'
"Whatever happened to us, Sakura?"
Hurt.
Let go…
And he left without another word.
"I'm sorry, Sasuke-kun but you don't deserve whatever it is I'm putting you through…" She whispered with a bittersweet smile.
Yet behind her closed doors, he was there standing with a promise to keep.
"Whatever happened to us, why you're acting that way, I'm going to find it out." He smiled remembering the carefree young girl she was.
"Because I won't ever let you go…"
END.
A/N: I'm thinking of 5 more one-shots for Pillow before I completely close it. Until then, I hope you all would continue reviewing and supporting these series of not-so related stories! Thank you!
Tell me what you think about it! :)