Thick silence fills the room.
Somewhere nearby, the low hum of a heater rumbles and a fan whirls, but Sasuke takes no notice; neither do the frozen figures standing in the room with him. Sitting on the bed, the pale rosette is looking intently at him, waiting for his reply, but he does not answer.
Instead, Sasuke takes this frozen moment in time to register everyone's faces.
Ino's baby blue eyes are wide, as if in great shock. Naruto's facial expression was morphed into something like utter confusion, and Hinata's concerned lavender eyes stare at Sakura worriedly. Even Tsunade, the sharp and clever woman who had taught Sakura for three years, stared at her brilliant student with unreadable eyes.
What did he feel? Well, he couldn't pinpoint exactly how he felt at the moment, but he's sure it's somewhere between utter disbelief and boiling anger.
"Who are you?" the pink-haired girl repeats, apparently impatient with everyone's silence, particularly his. She swings her feet over the edge of the bed so she's facing them, pale feet dangling over the side of the white hospital bed and grazing the cool ceramic floor of the hospital.
It's a simple question, really, with a simple answer. All she requested was his name, which would take him about two seconds to say, and then he would be able to leave.
But he doesn't. The answer burns in his throat, refusing to come out, and his mind is spinning from her question. It's not actually her question that bothers him; it's why she asked the question. She asked in such an innocent tone, so clueless and soft and undeniably polite, like she really didn't know who he was.
Just what kind of game is she playing here?
"Sakura-chan, what do you mean?" Naruto asks, snapping back to reality. "He's Sasuke-teme. You know, the bastard. He was on our genin team, remember? With you and me and Kakashi-pervert."
Sakura let out an amused laugh. "No he wasn't, silly! Sai is on our team. I know you hate him, but that's no reason to cut him out. Though this guy does look a lot like Sai…"
Naruto opens his mouth then shuts it. Ino decides to step in then, inputting, "Forehead, how can you not remember Sasuke? He's been with us since our days at the academy!" Sasuke notices that Ino doesn't mention anything about his betrayal (the word still tastes sour on his tongue), as if it weren't important.
"I don't know him!" Sakura says, shaking her head. "Maybe you guys are thinking about somebody else. I have never heard of anyone named Sasuke."
"Sakura-san," Hinata replies gently, "Sasuke grew up with us." They were all partial lies. He grew up with them, yes, then moved away and came back. But Sasuke doesn't say anything about it; he just watches the pinkette sitting before him, who was analyzing him carefully.
Sakura glances at the shy Hyuuga heiress, and she sighs in defeat (probably because the Hyuuga barely talks, and Sakura knows the shy girl would never lie).
"I'm sorry," she finally murmurs, turning to him, "I know I may be acting a little rude right now, but I really don't know. Your face is not familiar at all. I have never heard your name before, so I doubt your last name is going to make a difference."
"Uchiha." He says his name quickly, as if it would spark some kind of familiarity in her mind.
"Never heard of it."
Her response is quick as well, as if she didn't even bother thinking about it. Sasuke feels his anger slowly bubbling to the surface at the rosette's attitude, and he tries to push it down with all his might, hoping he doesn't snap on the girl. His temper had always been bad, almost uncontrollable at times, and he didn't feel like it would be right for him to lash out that very second on a girl who was just recovering.
But it doesn't help. His anger level is rising slowly, against his will, and he knows he will snap if she pushes him on.
"So, who are you? I want you to introduce yourself." Her tone is soft once again, innocent and naïve and fake, Sasuke decides. She's being unreal.
And so, he snaps.
Crossing the room in three quick strides, he grabs her upper arm in not a harsh way, but enough to let her know he's angry.
"What kind of game are you playing here, Sakura?" he snaps angrily. "It isn't funny."
Instantly, Sakura's eyes narrow. "Excuse me?" she hisses darkly, voice dripping with malice. "Are you calling me a liar, you ass!"
Sasuke had heard of Sakura's infamous temper, but had never seen it himself before. Now, he was witnessing it, firsthand, front-row seat. And needless to say, it could easily rival his very own infamous temper.
"Stop pretending like you don't know me, Sakura. If you think something as stupid and as shallow as that is going to attract my attention, you're wrong. So drop the act already. You're embarrassing yourself," he hisses back, with equal rage.
"Don't flatter yourself, you peabrain!" Sakura screeches, and winces as her voice cracks. "I. Don't. Know. You." Adding on to it, she adds, "I don't think I want to, either. You're a first-class jerk, you know that?"
Sasuke then makes the mistake of looking directly into Sakura's eyes, which proved to be a fatal mistake.
Sakura's vibrant green eyes had always been the one obvious giveaway to her feelings. The girl could plaster on a fake smile and fool regular people easily, but not shinobi. Her eyes gave away everything her face didn't; it gave away everything she didn't express or say. She'd learned to hide her revealing emotions in her eyes well in the few years he'd been gone, but if he searched for it, there would always, always be a tiny, tiny giveaway; a tiny glint or sparkle or glare that revealed her inner turmoil.
But now, her eyes reveal everything, without even bothering to cover it up. Looking into her eyes, Sasuke sees her genuine confusion, her fury, her frustration, and her clueless look to who he is.
It scares him, this raw and real and true empty feeling she's giving him. It creates a bitter, empty feeling in his chest that he absolutely despises, and he hates it. The reality of the situation hits him like a ton of bricks, nearly knocking his breath out at every word.
Sakura doesn't remember him.
Sakura doesn't remember him.
Sakura doesn't remember him.
He doesn't want to believe it, but her eyes don't lie. She's staring at him now, confused at his sudden silence, his sharp intake of breath, and the anger pooling in his dark orbs. Sasuke could feel the others' burning eyes at his back, where the proud Uchiha crest was sewn in. They're waiting, he knows, for him to do something. She's waiting too, watching him carefully; her body stiff as if she was ready for an attack.
He releases a breath he doesn't know he's been holding, as well as her arms. She jerks away from him, rubbing her arms, eyes never leaving his face.
Sasuke backs away from the bed carefully.
"I don't know you," she whispers for the hundredth time, and Sasuke turns away.
"Whatever," he bites out, before storming out of the hospital.
-x-
After a few hours' of training (venting) which resulted in destroying all of training ground three, Sasuke arrives home, sweaty and bloody and exhausted. The day's events were running through his head a hundred miles per hour, giving him a massive headache.
He'd been unfocused during his training, thoughts still consumed by Sakura (who seemed to be in his thoughts more and more every day), and ended up cutting and bruising himself.
Shaking his head, he brushes it off, shuffling to the bathroom for a warm shower.
As he showers, his mind wanders back to her. Every time he thinks of her, a burning desperation and panic feeling fill his chest. Wasn't this what he always wanted? For annoying little Sakura to leave him alone? Sighing to himself, he scrubs the dirty grime off his arms.
It was ironic, really; because now, when Sasuke wants-yearns - for Sakura's undivided attention, it's no longer available to him.
The thought disturbs him more than he thinks is imaginable; after all, he is an Uchiha, and Uchiha's don't think about pink-haired beauties all day.
Thinking this, Sasuke realizes another thing: he isn't just an Uchiha, though.
He's also Sasuke.
Note… sorry, I know it's a really short chapter, so I'll make the next one longer. I'm tied up with Crime and Punishment for English class right now, and it's a big PAIN IN DA ASS. Yuck.
-A
