Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I think that's pretty clear, considering how if I owned Naruto, I'd not be here writing fanfics. I'd instead alter the plot so that SasuSaku would become canon NOW.

Chapter X: Say My Name

'… What?' Neji repeated, even though he had just heard everything Sakura just had said; it wasn't much, and she had spoken clearly. Yet… he hadn't expected to hear that sentence…

At least not just yet.

Sakura repeated the question.

'I…' Neji paused, choosing his words carefully. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

Completely see-through, he realized, cursing himself for his idiocy. Of course, I shouldn't think of the worst… Naruto would only tell her under special circumstances. The most natural reason would be to find out more about Uchiha, and the Hyuuga clan is connected to theUchihas…

And very much as he had suspected, Sakura's frown had increased as she had said: 'Don't pretend, Neji-san, I know you know something about Uchiha-san, and I need to know it.'

His gaze was sharper than his tone as he looked back into her eyes. He could feel her cringe at his intense, piercing eyes. 'Why would you want to know?'

She smiled mischievously. 'So you do know. Well, Neji-san… Uchiha-san's condition is worsening and I need to know everything about him in order to cure him.' She hesitated, then continued: 'And there's something fishy going on, I can feel it. You're hiding something.'

'No, I'm not,' Neji said in a very controlled voice. 'As for Uchiha Sasuke, he's just a member of the Uchiha clan.'

'There's more. He's a pretty famous psychopath, you know.'

'I don't specialize in doing research on psychopaths; I specialize in healing them.'

Sakura furrowed her eyebrows. 'Neji-san…'

'I apologize, Sakura. I don't have much to tell you.'

'You know something else.'

'You're being paranoid.'

Sakura laughed softly. 'Don't be silly, Neji-san, I'm a psychiatrist too, you know. I know you're hiding something from me.'

'… Fine.' Neji silenced, only the sound of the wind filling their ears until he finally said: 'I just tell you to stay away.'

'Stay away?' Sakura looked slightly offended. 'Neji-san, I can take care of myself –'

'And never tell him your name. Never.'

'… Huh?'

'I'm sorry, Sakura, but I've got to go,' he muttered as he started to walk away.

'Hey – wait – Neji-san!'

But Neji was already gone.
Sakura…

Sasuke screamed at the top of his lungs as memories flashed past in his mind, his eyeballs bulging as though about to fall out of their sockets, a tearing pain appearing in his chest.

'Hold him down!' a nurse yelled. 'He's going to go on a rampage if we don't!'

"C'mon, Sasuke-kun, don't be such a bore! Stop calling me Haruno… I've a first name, you know!"

Her laughter. Her smile. That mischievous sparkle in her eyes, the way those emerald orbs radiated warmth… acceptance.

'AAAAGH –'

'C'mon, we've got to take him to the emergency room! Where're the drugs?!' another nurse demanded to know, her voice betraying her feelings of panic.

"Don't ignore me now! Say my name! C'mon…"

"I won't, Haruno."

"See! There you go again! I call you Sasuke-kun… why can't you say my name?"

'I really don't understand… we should've had him moved to a more advanced asylum, but Uzumaki-san insists –'

'Who cares about Uzumaki-san now! We've our jobs to care about! Do you want to get fired, Yotsuino?! If you don't, then you better concentrate on Uchiha, or else Uzumaki-san will throw you out before you can say "I refuse"!'

"I'm not going to call you –" He grimaced. "- what that idiot calls you."

She pouted. "Is that why you're not saying my name? Because you're jealous?"

Always so fragile. So soft-hearted. So comforting…

So beautiful.

And he –

He choked on his tomato juice. "What?"

"Just kidding!" She grinned widely. "But c'mon… Sasuke-kun… say my name!"

His face turned to stone again; stubborn, cold, pessimistic. "No."

But she knew he wasn't like that. Deep within. Or so she said.

- a beast. Cruel, cold-hearted, merciless…

Nobody understood him. The girls only liked him for his appearance, his 'mysterious coolness', his intelligence and strength.

They said he was 'perfect'.

"Oh, don't be so stubborn, Sasuke-kun… pleaaase?" Her face became begging, her jade eyes widening and sparkling –

He turned away. Damn those eyes.

They didn't even know him.

And then there was that idiot Naruto. He was always alone… an orphan, and the others despised him for the family he came from; in some bizarre way, Sasuke could understand him and he Sasuke. But they never spoke.

It was that girl who broke the barrier between them.

"Say my name, Sasuke-kun!Pleaaase…"

He hesitated, only for a thousandth of a second, but she saw it nonetheless. Her grin became even more mischievous, her lips curling upwards devilishly but in a weirdly sincerely innocent way.

"I could buy tomatoes for you! Make tomato juice… tomato soup… er… tomato icecream… tomato pie… tomato cake… tomato muffins… tomato… uh…"

"No." His voice was stern, sharp as a needle, menacing. Other girls would've started to cry, or the bravest would've winced, but she knew him better.

Naruto had opened up to her. At first only because she was bullied – he was the only one who could understand her pain. But Sasuke saw it too… he just didn't bother to interfere.

She didn't return his feelings. Naruto never openly confessed his feelings, but he made sure to show her he cared and loved in all ways possible without directly telling her 'I love you'. She rejected him – violently, but it was only a joke. Naruto didn't take her seriously either.

Others said she hated Naruto. Sasuke knew she didn't want him to take her seriously. Being violent with him was her way to show that she cared but still didn't return his feelings.

She was in love with somebody else.

"Okay, then!" She sounded desperate by now. Sasuke felt a tinge of amusement in his heart. "I'll tell Naruto what you said in your sleep a week ago!"

Sasuke stiffened.

"You wouldn't dare," he hissed, glaring into her face, his nose only inches away from hers.

Him.

That was why Naruto hated him. That was why he hated Naruto. Naruto loved her, but he wouldn't hurt her. That was why, in the end, he knew Sakura would go to him. He hated Naruto for being there, for being the superior, even if Sasuke won in all kinds of competitions from fights to rock-paper-scissors, Naruto would win in the end.

He didn't know why he cared. But she could see through that icy demeanor with her soft, warm jade eyes. It disturbed him. He didn't like it… at all.

Yet, he felt so oddly relaxed around her.

At last, she managed to break down that barrier. She was the link between Naruto and Sasuke… the link that had caused the two of them to at last become best friends, and defeat their mutual hatred.

The reason had been to protect her smile.

Back then, he hadn't anticipated he would be the one to make it fade away.

"Oh yes, I would." She smirked evilly. "I can tell him about all the details… your little nightmare… how you two accidentally kissed –"

"Shut up!" he snapped. "If you don't, then I'll –"

"Just say my name." Her smirk turned to a smile – that beautiful smile Naruto loved. The smile they had sworn to protect…

Naruto was the only one who knew that he cared. Everybody else only saw Sakura clinging onto him, hearing his cold comments about her being annoying – his rude attitude just showed how much he hated her, they said.

So eventually, they had sworn to protect her together.

For her sake. For their sake. For love's sake.

There was just something about that smile that made him feel… strange. It felt as though all darkness around him, threatening to suffocate his soul, cleared away, revealing a path of light.

But he had denied it. He had rejected that path…

She leaned closer. He started to feel uncomfortable – their lips were almost touching.

"Just say it," she whispered. He could see every movement of her lips… and that soft whisper…

It was intoxicating. It was… dangerous.

"Fine."

Silence.

"Your name is –"

'SAKURAAAA –'

Naruto bit his lower lip, and closing his eyes, his fists clenched painfully. Sasuke…

Said man and psychopath was now thumping the portable bed he was tied to rapidly with his fists, shrieking in agony.

'STAY AWAY… NO, STAY AWAAY –'

'Drugs, where're the goddamned drugs!' Naruto could hear one of the nurses crying out in frustration. He leaned against the wall, making sure he was invisible. He didn't want Sasuke to see him –

- he didn't want to see Sasuke.

'STAY AWAY – I DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU – I DON'T WANT TO… NO…'

That smile… that tormenting smile. The smile that haunted even Naruto in his dreams. He had stopped loving her, but she was still one of his closest friends.

No. She and Sasuke were his very best friends. Not 'two of the closest'… they were the 'best' ones.

And… they…His hand travelled to his heart, as though wanting to clutch it.

'NO! DARKNESS, TAKE ME AWAY FROM THE LIGHT…'

… are both engulfed in darkness.

He closed the door to his office as Sasuke's screams became fainter the farer away the nurses went from his cell. Staring out of his window, Naruto found it was dusk… the sky was painted in so many different colors… in the farthest corners of the horizon a deep navy that almost resembled black, slowly fading to light mist-blue that blended to white together with the faintest creamy gold, finally drowning in crimson.

The showdown of light and dark.

The sun is about to set… the night is about to come.

His eyelids closed, hiding his pain-filled eyes.

But what if the sun doesn't rise again tomorrow…

The night was silent.

As Sakura strolled down the streets, she felt oddly peaceful at mind. Lately, she had avoided being out in the dark – but now, somehow, she felt some strange sort of relaxed, temporary calm…

As though the calm before the storm.

She shook off the feeling with a careless shrug, inhaling the fresh air of the evening. A cool night breeze ruffled her short roseate hair, her jade eyes scanning the dimly lit up surroundings like a cat's, darting around swiftly without the slightest sign of tension or fear. The full moon shone above her with a ghostly light, surrounded by what seemed to be countless other stars, twinkling from an immeasurable distance.

And everything was completely quiet.

Not a sound, with the exception of her own steadfast footsteps, could be heard. There was no car speeding past her, no other people hurrying past her or even lurking about. Somewhere far away a bird – perhaps a nightingale, as in romantic fairy tales long forgotten in this deserted neighborhood – sang a melancholy melody, telling of broken hearts, tragic deaths and loneliness.

But other than that… nothing.

And suddenly, a sound pierced through this peaceful silence, rushing Sakura awake, calling her back to reality – she had been in such a trance by taking in all this, that she had forgotten that there was even something called noisy, if you could call the sound noisy, anyway.

You are my shelter

My tears and laughter

The sunlight and the wind

You're my angel

You're the joy that love can bring…

The Italian singer Laura Pausini's voice gently sang the love ballade to the silence of the night, even the bird – a nightingale? – turning quiet to listen. Sakura snatched up her cellphone from her pocket and answered immediately.

'Hello?'

'Oh… hi. Sakura. I was just wondering if you were… you know, alright.'

Sakura shot an eyebrow further upwards. 'Tenten? What's wrong?'

'Nothing's wrong.' A strained laugh followed. 'Why would anything be wrong?'

'Because… you never phone me to ask if I'm alright.' She paused, waiting for an answer, but nothing ever came. Just Tenten's ragged breath that indicated her nervousness. 'You phone around to talk about… stuff. All kinds of stuff. Not to ask if I'm alright or not.'

'Oh… well… I was just thinking, er, maybe you wanted to see Spirited Away?'

Sakura heaved a sigh. 'Neji-san talked with you, didn't he?'

'What? What makes you think –'

'You're a terrible liar, Tenten.'

'I… well, he did, but –'

'Relax, I'm fine.' She smiled. 'Why wouldn't I be? I really don't get what you guys are making such a fuss about. I mean, I know Uchiha-san's a dangerous psychopath, but so far he hasn't refused to cooperate, and –'

'Give me the phone, Tenten,' a distant voice Sakura recognized as Neji's interrupted.

'No,' Tenten protested, 'I am talking to Sakura –'

Sakura wondered in her thoughts what Neji was doing together with Tenten this late at night. She convinced herself to believe they had probably just met up somewhere, like… at a party. But come to think of it, Neji wasn't that social…

'Sakura,' Neji's deep voice cut Tenten's protests off. Sakura felt her body shiver in pleasure at the voice. Such a beautiful sound.So… deep and demanding, yet smooth.

It was familiar somehow. It reminded her of another sound…

"Your name is… Sakura."

She stifled a moan as a pang of pain shot through her body, the familiar ache she had been feeling for weeks. That voice…

'Listen, Sakura,' Neji's voice once again sounded, awaking her from her thoughts, 'Stay away from Uchiha. Better, resign from the job. I don't know what Tsunade-sama is thinking by sending you off to that man, but it's not good for you, or for him. It's better to leave him alone.'

'Neji-san, I'm grateful that you're concerned, but for your information, Uchiha-san is –'

'I don't care.' It was sharp as a needle now, with the tone of a captain to his disobedient, rebellious subordinate. 'You don't know everything, Sakura – just watch out, will you? Just –'

But his voice faded away as Sakura dropped the cellphone to the ground. Her face color was a sickening ash-grey, her body shaking uncontrollably.

'Hello? Haruno!'

But he could've been talking to a deaf person. Sakura's lower lip trembled as her eyes widened in pure fear.

'Y… you!' she spluttered out, pointing at the person before her.

'Long time no see…'

His lips curled into a sinister smile as a pointed tongue, as the one of a snake, licked them maliciously.

'... Sakura-chan.'

The last thing she heard was that familiar voice. Not Neji's, but another one, one she embraced welcomingly.

Your name is… Sakura.
His eyes opened very slowly. A blurred vision of white met his dark orbs, hushed whispering the only sound that his ears welcomed in the tiny hospital room.

'… Where is she?' he demanded with a calm, controlled voice.

The whispering stopped. The nurses in the corner looked terrified; one was whimpering pathetically, the other shaking more than a leaf in a storm, a third looking as though she was restraining the urge to run for the door, scream at the top of her lungs and get as far away as possible from the disturbed youth.

'Where is she?' he repeated once again, with a more warning tone.

'W… we d-don't know what you're talking about, S-Sasuke-san,' the third murmured in a hardly audible voice.

'The psychiatrist.' He refused to use her name. He still refused to believe.

She can't be…

She had been dead to him for years. A no longer existent character of his past, a ghostly face that haunted him in his nightmares, smiling that comforting smile that he had sworn to protect… and destroyed.

'Sh… she…'

'Sasuke.'

The door opened. Sasuke's eyes slowly wandered to the doorway – he stood there. The nurses' eyes dashed hurriedly from the patient to the boss.

'U-Uzumaki-san,' the first addressed with a half-hearted bow of politeness, though he looked as though he was about to watch a sumo-wrestling battle – or even better, the clash of two giants, as though the former best friends would at any second roar and jump at each other, fighting brutally.

Naruto just wore a determined face expression. 'Please leave.'

'Y-yes, Uzumaki-san.' The three quickly gathered their belongings and rushed out of the hospital room, filled to the brim with fresh gossip they were ready to spread. The blonde's blank eyes just showed how little he cared.

'You're awake,' he stated simply.

'Aa.'

Silence.

Then, 'Where's she?'

Naruto understood immediately. He needed no confirmation of her name. 'She…' He hesitated.

'Just tell me already,' Sasuke snapped. He was starting to get impatient.

'She's comatose,' Naruto informed him cautiously. 'She was found on the streets, unconscious, last night.'

He didn't need to say more. Sasuke looked as for a moment as though he considered whether to puke or to scream.

A minute later, he did both.

I'm so sorry that you guys didn't get to see Sasuke's and Sakura's past like you wanted to, but I can promise that there'll DEFINITELY be some of that soon, you have my word. Also, I'm sorry for the ' instead of the ", my computer is screwed up right now, it won't function properly. And if there're words missing or sentences that repeat themselves, as well as words/sentences that should be in italics/bold/normal that are not, I apologize again. I've no idea how my computer succeeds with doing that, but it just does that by itself. If you see the last chapter, you'll notice that a few words might've gone missing (like Sakura thought "I Sai"... it's supposed to be "I told Sai").

Also, I'm going to the Canary Islands the day after my birthday! (Which is the day after Sasuke's birthday, so guess when?) Which means, sorry, no updates for some time, but don't worry, I'll try to get the chapters done as quickly as possible by the time I'm back. Don't forget to review, I'd love to see the reviews after I've gotten back!

I'll also try to get done with the second Bittersweet Facade chapter as soon as possible. It took me an entire day (and a lot of headache) to finish the twelfth chapter of this (I'm always two chapters ahead of the actual published chapter, so that I can alter it in case I change my mind about any events that occurred), so it didn't give me much time to finish the Bittersweet Facade chapter.

Reviews Corner

I tell you guys this time and time again, yet it seems like I don't say it enough - do you know just how I much I love your reviews?! I love reading them, whether it's criticism or compliments. Either way, I've a knack for forgetting rules, and many thanks to Aria-chan - I totally forgot that I'm not really allowed to answer reviews! Anyhow, I'm answering your reviews while publishing this, so if you're looking for an answer to your review, please check your mailbox! (Be aware that I haven't answered ALL reviews yet due to the fact that my mom is currently threatening me with a vacuum cleaner so I can hurry up and get finished.)

To be honest, I actually prefer to write every single answer to your reviews like meant us to do, by clicking the 'reply' button. It seems much more personal to write one to each of you, instead of just writing everything here.

Thank you guys SO much! And anyhow, I've gotta go. My mom's threatening with the vacuuum cleaner because she wants to use the computer.

Much love, and keep reviewing!!!

-Tsuki-chan

Tsukiko's Ultimate Blah Blah Blah (Fear of the Fanfic Fanatics!)

I guess most of you already know that the 7th volume of Harry Potter is soon going to be released! Since I've been utterly bored the two past days due to the fact that none of my friends had any time to hang out, I spent my time instead rereading the previous volumes, and finding out what's going to happen in the new one. So I read in an interview with J.K. Rowling that she wants to shed light on stuff or something, so that there won't be anymore 'stories' after she's done, and I assume she's talking about fanfics...

Personally, I feel kind of offended. I mean, what's wrong with fanfics? My sister gets thoroughly annoyed by fanfics as well, saying they're not 'original work of the author'. Who cares? I've read plenty of fanfics that could've been by the actual author/manga artist/script writer, they're so good anyway. Sure, there're some stuff that may be out of character, like this great fic I read the other day in which Sasuke blushed prettily, but who cares, the rest of the fanfic was very well-written and I'm looking forward to read the next chapter.

And maybe readers wanted to add something that WASN'T included in the original book; like for example, in HP, how Lily and James got together, and since I'm an avid DracoHermione fan, how the two of them could get together possibly, and Ron's jealousy and all.

I mean, sure, maybe you could get annoyed if you were the creator of something and got annoyed by how people made them so horribly out of character, or into Mary-Sues, or whatever. But still, wouldn't that be AMUSING to read instead of annoying? And if you really do find an IC fic, be pleased with how it turned out?

Well, one thing's for sure. If I become a famous author, and people start writing fanfics, I'll be sure to read them, no matter what pairing it is, how OOC it is, how lousy it is written, or whatever. And then, I'll make sure I'll leave a review just to show that I like fanfics too.

-Tsuki-chan