Author's Note: So sorry, everyone! I know it had been rather draggy but don't worry, I am planning to end it. Actually, it's coming close to an end. Probably a few more chapters and this fanfic will be completed! Keep up with the reviews, follows and favorites, dear readers!
Chapter 18: Fears and Worries
Sasuke's POV
"Come on, Sasuke. Tell me what I did or said when I was drunk. It's annoying that I can't remember anything!"
"Trust me, Sakura. You don't want to know."
"I want to. Spill it out!"
"For your own good, I'm not telling you."
Even after we had returned to Japan, Sakura couldn't stop bugging me to tell her what happened that night. I just couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth. It was best that she didn't know.
I planned to ask Itachi to come over to the airport and we could send Sakura home. But I received a rather sudden call from Orochimaru and his unusual frustrated tone gave me a bad feeling.
"Where are you right now, Sasuke? I have something urgent to discuss with you immediately."
"I'm at the airport."
"Stay there and wait for me."
Orochimaru was acting weird and I was confused with the whole situation. Sakura must have noticed my odd expression and asked me who called.
"Who was that?"
"It's my manager. He said he has something urgent to discuss with me."
"I see. I'll get going first then. I can get a cab outside."
"Alright, I'll see you soon."
Sakura waved at me as she walked towards the taxi stand. I wore my disguise and walked out to wait for Orochimaru.
Orochimaru arrived soon enough and when I entered the car, I came face to face with an obviously very irritated manager.
"What is it this time?" I got straight to the point when I saw that Orochimaru meant business. I had never seen him that annoyed.
"How many times have I told you to be careful, Sasuke?"
I didn't respond and simply urged Orochimaru to continue. He always had the tendency to beat around the bush. He should really learn how to be more straightforward.
"Someone saw you and Sakura together at Europe and had spread the news around. I really doubt I can do anything to stop things this time round. Seriously, how many times do you want things like this to happen? And it gets worse each time."
I groaned in frustration and ran my fingers through my hair. To think I actually thought nobody would recognize me back there. I guessed I was too naïve.
"How bad is the situation?" I had to know what sort of situation I was dealing with. So far, it had always been Orochimaru who fixed the mess I caused. But this time, I knew I had to deal with it as well.
"By now, those fans of yours most probably can recognize Sakura at one glance. And judging from how fanatic some of them are, I'm worried that they'll harm her."
I felt a pang of pain on my heart at the thought of Sakura getting hurt because of my carelessness. But what Orochimaru said was true and there was a high chance Sakura might get into some troubles.
"What should I do now?" I glanced over at my manager, who seemed to be wrecking his brain for ideas.
"I'm in the middle of trying to stop more articles from being published. At the mean time, don't meet up with Sakura. You can't risk having seen with her at a time like this."
I hated the idea of not being able to see Sakura for the time being but it was the right thing to do.
"I'm willing to do anything to make sure Sakura is alright."
Sakura's POV
"This doesn't look very good, Sakura. I'm worried about you."
Once I got home, my mother showed me an article on a magazine, which was about Sasuke and me. There was even a picture of us at Europe published along with the article. I felt guilty for making my mother worry and I tried to assure her that everything was going to be fine.
"Don't worry, mother. It isn't the first time something like this happened."
"Because this isn't the first time, I am worried. Your father and I could just ignore it previously but this time, we couldn't just sit around and say nothing."
My mother led me to the living room where my father was. He seemed equally concerned and I couldn't help but feel bad for it. I sat on the sofa with my mother, who urged my father to speak.
"Sakura, I am aware that this isn't the first time the media published something about you and Sasuke. Your mother and I are supportive of you being with him. However, if this continues to happen, we might change our mind."
I stood up hastily when I heard my father's words. I began to panic and was frantically trying to think of ways to convince my parents that I was going to be alright.
"Trust me, nothing bad will happen." I hated how that was all I could manage to say. And I hated it more at how unconvincing my tone was. I sounded as if I wasn't sure of myself.
My parents must have noticed the absence of my usual confidence and it made them even more worried.
To be honest, I didn't expect things would turn out that way. All this while, I knew that Sasuke's manager was the one who managed to control the articles and rumors. But this time, I just had a feeling it wouldn't be so easy to control the situation.
And for once, I felt like I could be in some sort of trouble.
It was my mother who voiced out my concern, "Sakura, you know how crazy some fans can be. What if they will harm you after reading these articles? And your face is shown so clearly!"
"You're over thinking the matter, mother. I doubt they will be that extreme." My words had betrayed my honest thoughts and I tried to bring out a smile to sound convincing. Of course, I failed at doing so once again.
My father sighed and massaged his temples as he spoke, "I want you to be careful from now on, alright?"
I nodded before heading back to my room. There was something weighing on my heart and I couldn't help but feel nervous.
Then my thoughts wandered to that time back at our field trip when one of Sasuke's fans tried to push me into the lake. An uncomfortable shiver ran down my spine as I remembered that incident.
I definitely shouldn't take things too lightly.
Sasuke's POV
It has been five days since I last met Sakura. I would be lying if I said I didn't miss her. But I didn't have much of a choice.
I went home once after I came back from the trip, only to find reporters swarming around. Not wanting to disturb my family members, I decided to stay in my apartment for the time being. From then on, I barely left the apartment because there were always reporters waiting for me outside.
Whenever I need something, I would ask Orochimaru to get it for me. I would do that as little as possible though since he would always nag me whenever he came over.
There was still half an hour before I needed to leave the apartment for work. I was resuming filming the TV drama that day and even though I wasn't in the best mood, I couldn't let that distract me from my job.
I decided to give Sakura a call as I waited for the time for me to head over to the filming studio.
"Hello."
Sakura's voice brought a smile on my face, which was something I had not done for the past few days. She wasn't exactly in her most cheerful state but I couldn't blame her for that.
"How are you doing these days?" Although I had a clear idea regarding her low spirits, I just had to hear it from her.
"Do you want to hear the truth or the lie?"
I chuckled slightly before demanding the truth from Sakura.
"I miss you, Sasuke."
"I know you do."
"You're so annoying."
"But you still miss me."
"I don't anymore."
"I miss you, Sakura."
"You're really annoying, you know."
The two of us shared some laughter as we engaged in casual conversation. I truly missed everything about her; her voice, her smile and also her warmth. I wanted to go to wherever she was at that moment but I knew I shouldn't.
I shouldn't bring more troubles to Sakura's life more than I already did.
"I'm sorry, Sakura."
My apology came out from nowhere and I knew I had startled Sakura. I was sure she must have looked as confused as she sounded.
"Why are you apologizing so suddenly, Sasuke?"
"I heard from Orochimaru that reporters went to disturb you as well. Some of them went as far as going to your house. I'm really sorry for getting you into this trouble."
"Sasuke, stop apologizing. It's not even your fault to begin with! And I'm dating a famous celebrity; I kind of guessed this will happen eventually. I'm totally prepared!"
It was obvious that Sakura was putting on a strong front. I asked Orochimaru to check on Sakura and I hated what he told me. Apparently, several reporters had found out Sakura's address and actually went to find her. Of course, Sakura didn't entertain their questions. But she ended up being stuck inside her house just like me.
It was my fault for not considering these things before.
"Please take care of yourself, Sakura."
"You're being such a worrywart and that's so unlike you. I'll be fine, I promise."
"I'll be hanging up now. I need to head over to the filming studio."
"Okay, good luck with work."
"I'll see you soon."
"I hope your definition of 'soon' is the same as mine."
I laughed at how Sakura was showing how badly she missed me and it made me happy in a way. But on the other hand, I was consumed with guilt for causing the disturbance around her.
Most importantly, I hoped she would really be alright.
"It seems like you're in deep trouble this time."
I glared at Sai for being as incredibly straightforward as always. The two of us were resting in a waiting room in the middle of filming as we waited for our turn to go onto the set. After the misunderstanding was cleared, things between us got better.
I stopped acting as if I was after his life and naturally, he no longer gave me those horrible fake smiles of his. However, that didn't mean Sai had become a likeable person. His personality still needed a whole lot of renovation.
Yes, he was still as annoying as ever.
I ignored Sai and continued drinking the cup of coffee in my hand. Of course, the dense guy beside me just wouldn't stop talking.
"And I heard the reporters are giving Sakura a hard time as well."
"Is Sai going all out to make me feel even guiltier than I already am?"
"Oh, my manager told me that there are a lot of furious fans expressing their discontentment in the internet. Saying stuffs like Sakura had bewitched their 'Sasuke-sama'."
I cringed when I heard Sai casually mentioning a nickname my fans often used to refer to me. I wasn't very fond of that nickname but Sai had effortlessly made it worse.
"I hope those jealous fans of yours won't harm Sakura. Some of them wrote really nasty things about her online. My manager even saw people discussing ways on how to hurt Sakura."
A familiar ache was felt on my heart at the thought of Sakura getting hurt. Such images had been going around in my mind lately and I would always feel uneasy.
I knew how extreme some of my fans were. I had found out about that side of theirs in the hard way.
My fans often jumped onto me without respecting my personal space. Some of them even went as far as hugging or kissing me. But the worst case was when several fans had crossed the line and actually stalked me all the way to my house.
Most of the time, I would let the matter rest without causing a big fuss. After all, even though their actions were highly questionable, they were still my fans. A celebrity couldn't survive without the support of their fans, no matter how talented they were. That was a fact.
Only when things were greatly unacceptable, I would express my displeasure through the media. Of course, it was done in a polite and graceful way despite the fact that I was pissed to no end. When I found out that I was followed all the way back to my house, I went onto my social media and told my fans to stop doing that because their action would disturb my family.
Fortunately for me, they actually stopped and it never happened again.
And this time, if something really happened to Sakura, I wouldn't let things go that easily.
Sakura was way too precious for me, after all.
Sakura's POV
Who was I trying to lie?
I was far from fine and I had been feeling jumpy for days. But Sasuke was having a harder time than I was and I didn't want him to worry about me. And it wasn't like I was hurt or something.
Well, I was somewhat mentally injured though. It bothered me so much to have reporters outside my house, waiting for the chance to question me. I had not been out of the house for days and I was bored out of my mind.
"How do celebrities survive having their private lives disturbed like this?"
When I could no longer stand being caged in my own house, I looked through the window to check the situation outside. I almost squealed when I saw that there wasn't anyone outside. I quickly changed my clothes before heading out.
"Where are you going, Sakura?"
I was just about to open the door when my mother called out to me. I turned around and came face to face with a somewhat annoyed mother. I knew how worried my parents had been and they were clearly against the idea of me going out.
"I'm going out." I answered with a little smile, which had brought a deeper frown on my mother's face.
"You can't. It's too dangerous."
I groaned in frustration and I scratched the back of my head roughly, "It's not like people are after my life, mother! I'll be fine. And if reporters come up to me, I'll just ignore them. I know how to handle it."
"Sakura, did you see all those horrible things Sasuke's fans say online?"
My body tensed up immediately upon hearing my mother's words. I knew exactly what she was referring to. Ino called me two days ago and told me about the mean things people had been saying online. When they said that I had 'put a spell' on Sasuke to make him fall in love with me, I simply laughed it off because it was just bloody ridiculous.
What bothered me was the fact that there were people saying they wanted to hurt me. Someone went as far as saying I should get hit by a car.
Seriously, could they be any nastier than that?
"They don't mean what they say, mother. I will be fine."
"Let me go with you." My mother placed her hands on either side of her hip and seemed serious about accompanying me. Judging from her current state, instead of getting some quality time, I would end up feeling irritated.
"No thanks, mother."
And I left in a hurry before my mother could say another word.
I drove to a nearby mall and was walking around aimlessly. I wasn't even window shopping, I was literally just walking. There were people every now and then looking at my way but I pretended it didn't bother me at all. I had a strong urge to glare at them or give them a huge piece of my mind. However, I was aware that it wasn't a good idea to do so.
The last thing I needed was articles saying that Sasuke's girlfriend was a violent maniac.
When I realized that I have walked through the same places for at least three times already, I decided to leave. I wasn't sure where I should go to, but I just didn't feel like going home yet. Just then, my phone rang and I smiled when I saw that it was Ino.
"Hello, Ino."
"Are you home, Sakura? Wait, of course you are. Where else could you be? I know you're really bored so I'll head over to your house and we can watch a movie together or something."
"I'm not home."
"What?! Where are you?"
I had to pull my phone away from my ear when Ino shrieked in that high pitched voice of hers. I rolled my eyes before replying.
"I'm at the mall near my house."
"Why?! You're not supposed to be outside at a time like this. What if something happens to you?"
"I'm fine, Ino. Seriously, everyone should stop getting so worked up. I can take care of myself. I will lose my mind if I stayed inside my house for another minute!"
"You're so unbelievably stubborn, Sakura. Whatever, there's no point lecturing you right now. And you won't listen if I ask you to go home. Forcing you to do something you don't want is an impossible task as well."
"You know me so well, Ino."
"I know right? Anyway, let's meet up. Should I go to the mall to find you?"
"No, I'm leaving soon. Why don't we meet up at that Japanese restaurant you like so much?"
"Sounds perfect! See you soon. And be careful, okay?!"
"Yes, yes." I hung up before Ino could nag at me again. I knew she was just worried about me so I would just bear with it.
I parked my car at the basement and since there wasn't any lift reaching there, I had to use the staircase. As I walked, I felt like someone was following me. When I turned my head over my shoulder, I didn't see anyone.
"That's weird. I am sure I felt someone else's presence."
There wasn't anyone else around and I was beginning to feel scared. I increased my pace and I could feel sweat damping my forehead. I started to tremble when I felt someone behind me for the second time. But before I could turn to see who it was, I felt a pair of hands pushing me forcefully.
My breath was taken away from me when I lost my footing on the staircase. I didn't get to hold onto the handrail and was losing my balance immediately.
The last thing I remembered was seeing another person's shadow before I fell onto the ground and my consciousness was ripped away in an instant.
Author's Note: As usual, keep up with the reviews, follows and favorites! I feel sad to say that this fanfic is getting closer towards its ending (insert sad frown). Anyway, thanks for reading and please look forward to the next chapter!
