Moving In!
Chapter 7:
Friday
I sat down at our lunch table with Hinata and Sai; Gaara was absent. Everything was normal today, except that Sasuke wasn't at school. I wondered whether the fact that both Gaara and Sasuke were absent was related. I hadn't seen Sasuke since last night, when… it happened. I sighed as I nibbled on my carrot. I had already shared everything with Hinata, Gaara and Sai last night, by e-mail.
"Why do you think he did that?" Hinata asked quietly, as she examined the soup she had gotten from the cafeteria. I shrugged, I was certainly more confused then she was.
"I knew there was a small possibility of this happening but…" Sai sighed and sucked his chocolate milk through a straw, "Not so soon… Let's hope no one else finds out." He said. I frowned at my slice of pizza, and then looked towards my cast.
"This thing is really annoying." I muttered. I had tomato sauce on my finger and couldn't lick it off because my arm was stuck in a ninety degree angle, so I couldn't reach my face with my hand no matter how hard I tried. Naruto arrived and sat down beside Hinata.
"Hey, have you guys seen Sasuke-teme anywhere?" He asked. We all shook our heads. "Damn it. He said he was going to let me copy his math homework. Ugh… I'm done for!" Naruto sighed and pouted as he poked his cheeseburger over and over again.
"Uh, Naruto-kun? I can help you if you want me to." Hinata suggested. Naruto smiled bitterly.
"I didn't want to trouble you…"
"That's okay. Math is my best subject, after all." Hinata said cheerfully and smiled. Naruto beamed and turned to her.
"Thanks Hinata-chan!" He exclaimed. Hinata and Naruto got up and swung their bags over their shoulders. "See you guys later." Naruto said and led Hinata to the library. I sighed, now I was left with Sai.
He moved his chair closer to mine so we could keep our voices down.
"So what should I do?" I whispered. Sai was staring at the cafeteria door, as though waiting for something.
"Whatever you want to do," He said, not helping at all. I glared at him and he just shrugged.
"Well, I suggest you try to confront Sasuke. He may, or may not, open up to you. If he doesn't, then try again a few days later. Sasuke is a hard subject, because it's difficult to figure out what he's thinking. A slow approach may be easier, or it may not. It all depends on what you choose. Anyways, Sasuke is leaving the café for another job. He feels that he got too close to you, and he's just scared of that. He's scared of commitment."
I stared at Sai with wide eyes for a few seconds, than I smacked his head downwards. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier!?" I asked annoyed. He shrugged again as he rubbed his head.
"I didn't seem important. I already told you he'd switch jobs. I thought you'd remember." He explained. I rolled my eyes and quickly stood up.
"I'm going to go look for him." I told Sai. He grabbed my arm and pulled me down, back onto my chair.
"I was told, by Gaara, not to leave you alone. You'll end up killing yourself." Sai said with a smirk. I frowned at him, but he was right. I nearly got killed the last time I was alone. He let go of my arm and followed me outside to Sasuke's locker. I put my hand on his lock. It was cold.
"It doesn't feel like he's been here for a while." I noted. Sai nodded his head in approval. "What job could he want?" I asked him. Sai paused for a minute and seemed to be thinking very hard.
"I'm thinking… telemarketer." Sai finally answered.
"Huh? Why?"
"Sakura, must I repeat everything? I told you that he'd want a job that minimized contact with other people." Sai said frustrated. I was starting to feel quite stupid, but Sasuke really had no people skills!
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"You always have to go and hurt yourself, don't you Haruno-san?" The nurse muttered under her breath as she held my jaw and moved my head around so that she could check my face. "Your cheek healed; it's not swollen anymore. But you'll have to ask someone else about those… other things." She laughed as she glanced at my cast.
I gave a weak smile and giggled. "Sorry, I'm just really clumsy. I hope it doesn't trouble you." I mumbled.
"Oh no, it's nice to have some company once in a while." She told me and walked with me, happily to the door.
"See you soon!" She called as I opened the door and left. I liked the nurse but, seriously, I was hoping I wouldn't see her again for a while. I've broken myself enough!
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After school was over, I walked home with Hinata. My shift at the café started in an hour and a half, so I still had time to do homework and relax a bit. When I got home, Itachi was there, looking at important papers. "Why aren't you at the café?" I asked him and sat down at his left.
"I left Neji in charge. I have to sort these out, but it shouldn't take too long. I'm almost done." He explained. I nodded my head and walked towards the stairs, but when I put my foot on the first step, I turned around.
"What happened to Sasuke?" I asked him. He looked up from his papers, slowly.
"He says that he had found a new job… He told me last night, before he disappeared off the face of the earth." Itachi chuckled. I frowned at him.
"Aren't you worried about him?" I asked.
"Sasuke is perfectly fine by himself." Itachi reassured me. "I don't know why, but suddenly he wants to be even farther away from people. Did something happen?" He suddenly narrowed his eyes, trying to make me spill the beans.
"Well… err…" I mumbled.
"I know everything about Sasuke, okay? Whatever you say couldn't possibly be surprising." Itachi said and smiled.
"How much to you know about him…?"
"Sometimes when I'm bored I hack onto his computer to see what he's doing. I even stole his journal from him when he was eight years old and read every single page. When he found out, he stopped writing in it. I had to decipher most of it to understand, though." He chuckled.
"What? Special coding?" I asked, surprised that Sasuke had once owned a journal.
"Not exactly. He purposely wrote with extremely horrible grammar so no one could understand it." I laughed loudly at this, and Itachi shook his head. "The reason why my parents sent Sasuke here was because he was always so closed up. They knew that he was more open with me than anyone else. Also, I was known for getting my way with people."
"Fine then, so you know Sasuke well… but it's something pretty big, that I'm about to tell you." I said nervously. He waited as I took in a deep breath before slowly telling him, "Sasuke and I… kissed…" He stared at me with wide eyes as his papers fell from his hands. This is exactly what I hoped wouldn't hap-
"I knew it!" He said loudly and jumped off the couch.
"W-What?!" I stuttered.
"I knew it was it, but I thought I was just over thinking things!" He exclaimed as he paced back and forth. "He kissed you first, right? Not the other way around?" He asked quickly. I nodded my head.
"Why…?" I asked.
"Well, it's really important because, if he went for it first, than it makes things completely different." He told me, as he kept walking. "Sasuke opened up to you, but he didn't want to. He finds it hard to trust people because of past experiences. After he pulled away he said…?"
"… Sorry…"
"Hum… Because he didn't act as he usually would. So now, he's trying to get back his cold exterior, and push people away." Itachi concluded.
"… Why does it matter?" I asked, confused.
"You were worried first." Itachi noted. Oh yeah… He suddenly stopped pacing and fell back onto the couch. "Well, now that all that is cleared up, time to get back to work." He told himself.
"What? Just like that?! I want to go look for Sasuke!" I told him.
"Then go ahead; but I have bills to pay here." He told me and picked up the papers off the floor. I frowned at him before running up the stairs, to my room. I shut the door behind me, and locked it. I threw all my things on my bed and took off my uniform. I put on some black sweat pants and a green T-shirt, and ran to Sasuke's room. Just as I had thought: it was empty.
I searched around his room, looking for things that might lead to his location. I searched for what seemed like hours, though it was only a few minutes, and everything in his room was now a mess. "Damn it! Where did you go, Sasuke?!" I almost yelled. I suddenly heard a phone ringing. I knew that song; it was Sasuke's ring tone!
I jumped to the phone and pressed a button, answering. "Hello!?" I nearly screamed.
"Err… Who is this?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask. It sounded very strange.
"… Who're you?"
"Sasuke's new boss… Where is he?"
"He hasn't been home since last night; I think he's dead or something."
"No, his shift ended about ten minutes ago. I should call his office number to see if he's still there..."
"Oh! Can I have his office number then?"
"Sure." The boss said and gave me Sasuke's office phone number. I snickered and hung up his phone. I then dialled the number, and waited.
"Hello? This is Uchiha Sasuke speaking." I heard him say. A thought suddenly passed through my mind, and I struggle to hold back a laugh.
(Insert Italian accent here.)
"Is-a this the-a pizza place?" I asked.
"Err… no. We sell wheelchairs and other things for the elderly and disabled. How old are you m'am?" He asked. Wow, how professional!
"I'm a man! How dare-a you-a say that?"
"Sorry sir. Could you tell me how old you are?"
"I am-a seventeen." I said, and pressed the hold button so I could laugh out loud.
"Well… are you disabled sir?"
"Do I sound disabled to you, Sasuke?! OH! I mean- err…" I mumbled.
"Sakura??" He asked loudly.
"Why aren't you home Sasuke? Itachi and I are so worried! We called the police to go looking for you!" I lied.
"Believe me, if you had, I would know. And stop trying to fool me, I already told you that you were a horrible liar." He teased me. I frowned at him through the phone. All this frowning is going to make me get so many wrinkles when I get older, I swear.
"Well… are you coming home?"
"Of course, why?"
"I miss you." I blurted out. He paused for a second before answering.
"I'll be right there." He said and hung up the phone. I just stared at the wall as I hung up after him. I slowly got up, staring into space, and went downstairs. I looked into the living room, but Itachi wasn't there. As I walked to the office, I saw him on his computer.
"Itachi-niisan!!" I said loudly.
THUD
The rolling chair he was sitting on fell over, and so did he, right after he had turned to me in surprise.
"What the hell?! Don't yell at me out of nowhere like that!!" Itachi yelled. I blinked as he stood up and picked up his chair. "What do you want?" He asked as he pushed his chair to his desk. I immediately beamed and jumped onto him, and hugged him.
"Sasuke-kun is coming back! He's coming back right now!!" I screamed with joy.
"Okay, that's great… Why are you telling me this?" He asked suddenly. I frowned at him.
"Sasuke-kun is your little brother, don't you care?" I asked. He shrugged.
"Of course, but Sasuke can fend for himself, so why would I worry?" He asked. I shook my head in frustration and sighed. "Anyway, why are you calling me niisan?"
"Because… We're a big family now, right?" I asked. He smiled and nodded his head. I suddenly heard the gates opening and let go of Itachi to run to the window. I could see Sasuke, and another person beside him. "It's him!" I said excitedly. I put on flip-flops and ran outside. "You came back!" I said happily and ran to him with open arms. I felt something against my lungs and saw Sasuke holding me back.
"Yeah. I'm back." He said simply. I let my arms fall and he pulled back his hand.
REJECTION
Darn, that hurt.
"Sakura." I heard someone say. I turned and my eyes went wide. I completely forget about Sasuke for a moment.
"Teddy-niisan?" I squeaked, "What are you doing here?" Gaara was staring at me oddly.
"Sasuke-kun and I were just talking. That's all." He said. I frowned at the two while following them inside. They both sat down robotically, facing each other, on recliners. I sat down beside Gaara. He only glanced towards me, nothing else. He didn't speak to me. The room wasn't tense… just odd.
"Why are you guys acting so weird?" I asked nervously.
"I told you I didn't trust him." Gaara said quietly in my ear. I frowned at him, but he ignored me. Sasuke watched us quietly from his chair.
"What have you two been doing?" I asked curiously.
"Ah, it's nothing." Sasuke said, "Saturday night, then." He told Gaara and stood up. Gaara followed immediately. I watched as they both nodded their heads and Gaara headed for the door.
"Hey! Wait!" I said and followed Gaara. "Tell me!" I demanded. He only smiled and patted my head, before walking out the door. "What the-!" I blurted out and stomped my foot. "Did you guys fight, or something??"
"Ha-ha, you are so very far from the real thing." He laughed and gave me the same smile Gaara had. I growled in frustration. "You should be more worried about that dance, tomorrow." Sasuke reminded me.
"Oh CRUD!" I said loudly. I hadn't bought anything to wear for it, and it was the most anticipated dance of the year. Normally I wouldn't care, but if all my friends were going, I just had to go as well. He put his hand on my shoulder.
"I called Hinata. She said she'd meet you at the mall after you finished your shift at the café." He chuckled and walked away. I gawked at him as he left the room, and then frowned.
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When I arrived at the café, I got into my uniform in a flash and started to make the pizza dough. Neji was beside me, cutting up fruits and vegetables. "Hey Neji, can you pass me a knife?" I asked as I rolled the dough, than looked up to him. I suddenly heard a thud and Neji froze. I looked down to my hands, where he was staring, and saw a knife stuck into the board I was using for the dough, in between my fingers.
"Sakura." Karin hissed. I whipped my head around and saw her standing at the door way, and she had murderous intent in her eyes.
"K-K-Karin-chan…?" I said weakly and stared at Karin with wide and frightful eyes. She looked almost as scary as Gaara always did! Neji glanced at both of us back and forth.
"It's too bad I missed. I was hoping I'd break those hands of yours so you could never work here again." She growled, "I got this job to get close to Sasuke, and now, because of you, he left!!!" She roared and sprinted in my direction. I moved away just in time and she nearly crashed into the oven. I scrambled towards the cash registers, where curious customers were watching the argument.
"S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed when I hid behind him for cover. Karin looked around and spotted my pink hair. Damn it! Why must I have such bright and noticeable hair?! I tried to run towards the tables, but she grabbed the back of my shirt and I fell down. She slipped as well, and landed on her butt.
"I'm not letting you go this time!!" She screeched hysterically. I quickly got up and ran to the door. As I sprinted out of the café, and onto the sidewalk, I glanced backwards: Karin was following me at a matching speed. I turned into an alley, and when I realized that it was a dead end, I ran back. Karin was charging towards me, so I ducked to avoid her arms and ran back to the café.
"What the hell is the matter with you?!" I screamed and tried to speed up, but I was at my fastest, and I was getting slower as I lost more and more energy. I hit an old lady as I ran, but couldn't stop to say sorry. I burst back into the café, and was suddenly grabbed and pulled to the side. Neji ran to the kitchen, and urged me to follow him. Karin blew through the door and stopped in the middle of the café.
I would have disappeared from her sight, but, being Sakura, I tripped over a crack in the floor and fell flat on my face. Karin let out a small laugh as she approached me.
Well, I guess it all ends here!
She grabbed my collar and pulled me up to my feet with it, then pushed me against a wall. "I warned you, and so many times, I threatened you. Haruno Sakura, you will never learn! I was not joking with you, so let's hope you only get some broken bones." She said and landed a strong punch in my gut.
Surely, you're over-reacting. I mean, COME ON!! Sasuke is so not worth killing over!
I held my stomach as I fell onto my knees and let a few tears fall down my pale cheeks. "You're pathetic." I muttered angrily to her. She kicked the side of my head, making me fall over onto my side as I clutched my aching skull.
"Karin!" I heard Ino and Tenten yell. I opened my eyes, and through my tears, I could see two blurry figures holding Karin back. I groaned from the pain I still felt, and closed my eyes again. From what I could hear, Karin had broken free. From what I felt, she had just kicked my gut again.
Now, nearly everyone was holding Karin back, but she still hadn't calmed down. I coughed a bit, and saw a tiny drop of blood on my hand. "Damn it." I muttered.
"Sakura-chan…" I heard Naruto's soft voice say, "Come on." He tried to get me to stand up, but I resisted him and stood up by myself. His hands were shaky, and he looked really worried. I turned to Karin who, once again was winning against the arms holding her back. As soon as she was free I clenched my fist.
"Go to hell!!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, and punched her square in the face. I knew I had broken her jaw, as well as her nose, because I heard a disgusting crunching sound when I hit her.
"Sakura-chan!!" I heard many people yell at me, before I passed out again.
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"Baka!!" Someone's voice yelled in my ear. I woke up lying in my bed, as though nothing happened. The figure was quite blurry as my eyes were trying to adjust to the light.
"A-Are you god?" I asked weakly.
"No, I'm not god. Pretty close, but not quite." Sasuke teased me. I frowned once I had recognized his voice. "You just had to go and get beat up again, did you?" He sighed.
"She hit me first."
"That's not an excuse… You're a trouble magnet."
"I've heard that one before…"
"I heard you hit her too."
"I did."
"Was it hard?"
"I'm sure I broke something."
He smiled at me approvingly.
